Home is Where the Heart is
by Bubblykunzyz
Summary: Aceline Ketchum is back in her home region of Unova after she started her journey in Kanto five years ago. Will she be accepted with open arms or will she fall to her demise. Is anything as it seems? Is life going to be black and white like it used to be or will it forever be a confusing cloud of grey?
1. Chapter 1: Back in Unova

Bubblykunzyz: Hey guys! I couldn't log into my other account so I'm uploading this story on here since its like the only one I'm actually going to do. Please don't hate on me for this idea, I rather like it and this is going to be part of a series of adventures :) I'll start uploading them when I finish their chapters. Alright so I don't own pokemon, but I wish I did. Enjoy! And you don't have to rate, but I LOVE reviews :D

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Chapter One: Back in Unova

"Hello?" I answered the Xtransceiver groggily with a yawn.

"Aceline! I heard that you're in the region! Are you really in Unova?" I heard the excitement in Professor Juniper's voice just as well as see it in her expression on the screen.

I sighed. "Yeah I'm just reaching Nuvema town. I'll be at the lab in a second." I hung up on Juniper and walked into the town. It hadn't changed a lot in the ten years I had been away from it, but instead of four houses, there were only three. When I was six, my parents had moved us from Unova to Sinnoh and from there I had traveled all over different regions. Professor Juniper had given me my first pokémon, my Eevee, even though I technically hadn't been old enough to own a pokémon.

"Master?" chirped my Umbreon questionably. It was weird, but I could talk to pokémon even from a young age. I had become a singer in Sinnoh because my Umbreon had wanted me to.

"We're finally back home Umbreon. Let's hurry, Juniper is waiting and I haven't had breakfast yet." We walked to the lab in the northwestern area of the small town. It was super early in the morning, six o' clock to be exact and I was sure that I wasn't ready for Juniper's questions unless I had breakfast first.

I could have predicted it, but Professor Juniper was excitedly waiting for me outside her door. She hurried over to me and hugged me which Umbreon protested to. He didn't like unknown people being near me. "You've grown so much since the last time I saw you, Aceline! There's SO much to discuss…"

I held my palm out. " I can't think right until I've had breakfast." She laughed and led me and Umbreon inside her lab slash house. The left side of it was a lab and the right side of it was a house.

"I see your Eevee evolved. How many other pokémon do you have now, Aceline?" Juniper started cooking something for me that smelled roughly like cake.

"I have Umbreon, Espeon, Leafeon, Glaceon, Flareon, Jolteon, and Vaporeon with me. Umbreon doesn't have a pokéball, but I've nearly filled out my National Pokédex. All I have is the Unova region left." I sighed and sat down on the floor in the kitchen with Umbreon next to me.

"That's wonderful, Aceline! Well you're a famous singer throughout all of the regions aren't you?" Juniper brought me something that looked like banana bread. I nodded and broke a fourth of it off for Umbreon, who enjoyed it. Juniper then continued talking. "Well today I'm giving the three kids that live here pokémon. They each get one and I'm hoping to start them on a journey. They are each ten now and have been friends since they were toddlers. Sadly, your house burnt down shortly after you left so there's nothing in that spot anymore."

I nodded. "It's alright, I wasn't really planning on living here anyway. So what were you saying about the kids again?"

I noticed that Professor Juniper's eyes lit up when I mentioned the kids. "Well I got together with their mothers and we all decided to send them off on an adventure."

"Who are these kids exactly? I don't remember any other kids here besides myself." I gave the last eighth of my bread to the silent Umbreon and got up to wash my dishes.

"Well there's the boy, his name is Cheren. There's the tomboy, her name is Amelia. Then there's the other girl, her name is Bianca. The three families moved in shortly after you left. Cheren is really serious, Bianca is really carefree and Amelia is in between. I'm not surprised that you don't remember them, since they were five when you started on your own journey."

I finished washing my plate and I dried it. "Do you mind if I come along?"  
Juniper took the plate and put it away. "You mean to deliver the pokémon? Actually can you deliver it to the center house? I really need to clean up before I have the three kids come over here."

I nodded and took the wrapped box off of her lab table. "Come on Umbreon." Umbreon trotted to my side and walked next to me as we left Juniper's house.

"So we have to deliver pokémon to kids? Are we Santa Claus now?" The sarcasm was clear in Umbreon's tone.

I laughed lightly. "No, I'm just helping the professor out. You want to know how you and I met? Professor Juniper had gotten you as an egg through her father who had gotten you through his travels. She gave you to me for my tenth birthday and you hatched a week later in Kanto."

"That's a very touching story Master, but aren't we here?" Umbreon sat down next to my feet and looked ahead.

I nodded and knocked lightly on the door in front of me. A woman with brunette hair opened the door and looked at me quizzically. "I'm Aceline. I'm helping the professor out. I was supposed to deliver these pokémon here."

The woman smiled and gestured for me to enter. I smiled back and entered her house with Umbreon. "Where should I put this?"

"Upstairs on the desk. Don't worry about noise, Amelia will sleep through anything." The woman looked from me to Umbreon as I quietly crept into Amelia's bedroom As soon as I saw her desk, I hurried over to it and gently placed the box onto it, remembering that there were precious pokémon in it. On my way back to the stairs, I tripped and fell on the floor. My eyes shot to the girl that stirred in the bed.

"Master, I can hear the girl snoring. You're clear." I sighed in relief at Umbreon's statement.

"Stop calling me Master, Umbreon. Just call me Ace," I whispered sternly as I got up and started to walk down the stairs.

Umbreon followed me and sighed. "I like calling you Master, so I'll call you Master." I groaned and rolled my eyes as we reached the bottom of the stairs.

The mother was busy cooking in the kitchen so I left quietly with Umbreon at my side. I felt the six pokéballs on my belt stir. "Not now guys. You can come out soon though." The pokéballs stopped stirring and Umbreon chuckled. I adjusted the straps on my pack tighter so that it would be more comfortable.

When I reentered Juniper's house, I saw my full reflection in one of her machines. I was the average height, five-foot-four and I was skinny as I only weighed ninety pounds. My hair was jet black, perfectly straight, and hip-length. I had chin-length side bangs and my part was on the left so that I was constantly blowing my bangs out of my right eye. My eyes were a deep crimson red and they were big and child-like, framed by long, thick, dark lashes. I had a heart-shaped face, but no widow's peak. I had high round cheekbones, a perfectly proportioned button nose, and a strong jawline that led to a rounded chin. My shoulders were slight and toned, leading into a strong, not thick neck. My complexion was a creamy pale, but wasn't striking against my hair. I wore a bright red, snug fitted cotton tee shirt, blue jean short shorts and white tennis shoes.

"It's a good thing that you're back now, Aceline. I need to run over to Striaton City really fast. Don't worry, I should be back before any of the kids get here, but if any of them do show up, direct them to Amelia's house. Thank you so much Aceline!" Before I could refuse, Professor Juniper darted out of the house and flew away on a flying pokémon.

I groaned and looked through the contacts on my Xtransceiver. I finally found someone and called them. "Natalie?"

The person on the other end was definitely Natalie except she had a tight, white, shiny hood on her head. "Aceline? I can't talk right now, I'm working. Give me the pokémon kid!" the Xtransceiver suddenly hung up and I raised an eyebrow, but shook it off as the door opened. I was expecting Juniper, but instead it was a boy who looked to be no older than ten. He had shaggy chin-length black hair, narrow blue eyes covered by glasses and he was as tall as me.

"Where's the professor?" I knew by the boy's voice who he was.

"She had to run an errand quickly. She'll be back soon." I did my best to seem friendly.

The boy's eyes lit up suddenly. "I know who you are! You're Ace! The young singer and almost National champion!"

I sighed. It was true, I beat every region's Elite Four after I toured there, but I didn't want to be known _this_ well. "My name is Aceline. You must be Cheren, the professor told me about you and your friends." I held out my hand and Cheren shook it.

"How old are you anyway?" Cheren's voice told me that he was the kind of person that had to know it all.

I cleared my throat. "Well, Cheren. I'm fifteen and I have been instructed to tell you to go to Amelia's house." Cheren blushed and hurried out the door without saying goodbye.

"Well Umbreon, I can see why I should keep a low profile." I looked down at him to see that he was busy napping. I sighed and yawned. A nap didn't sound all that bad to me either. I sat in one of the chairs by the table and tried to doze off, but sleep wouldn't come.

I groaned as the pokéballs moved around some more. "Alright alright! Come on out guys." I threw my six mini pokéballs into the air. The balls grew larger and with a flash of white light, let my pokémon out.

Umbreon stretched and glared at me. "You just _had_ to let them out now didn't you? Why'd you have to let out the kits too?" he looked over to the youngest and newest members of my team: Leafeon and Glaceon. The two rolled around on the floor and wrestled.

I giggled and looked to see Espeon flirting with Umbreon like usual, and Flareon and Jolteon arguing as Vaporeon tried to calm them down. "Guys, we are in a new region, actually, it's the region that I was born in. We're in Unova." All of them looked at me with their big eyes. Leafeon and Glaceon tilted their heads to the side in confusion.

"A new region, which means new gym battles and new enemies, right?" asked Espeon in a smart-alec tone.

I nodded. "I'm not sure about the enemies, but definitely new gym badges and a new Elite Four. This time though, I'm going to start from the very beginning so you guys will have to go into the PC. Is that okay?" I bit my lip hoping that they would be fine with that. All of them nodded and sat, waiting to be put back in their pokéballs. I sighed and threw up the six pokéballs into the air. Espeon, Jolteon, Vaporeon, Flareon, Glaceon, and Leafeon each returned to the comfort of their Luxury balls. I reattached the pokéballs to my belt and stood up.

"So let me guess, I'm not going to be fighting too much am I?" Umbreon stood up and shook out his fur. I nodded and was about to walk out of the door when professor Juniper walked back inside.

She grinned at me. "I told you that it would be quick." She motioned towards her kitchen. "I know you'll be leaving soon, so you should make a sandwich for lunch later." I smiled and nodded my thanks as I made my way to the kitchen. As I entered the kitchen, Juniper's front door opened and I heard a high squeal.

Someone ran at me and Umbreon growled and threw himself at whoever it was. I heard a couple of gasps and a surprised squeak and when I turned around I face-palmed. The girl I suspected to be Bianca had been tackled by Umbreon. "Umbreon, it's okay. It's just Bianca." Umbreon huffed and jumped off of the poor girl to stand behind me. I helped up Bianca and her eyes widened before she squealed again and began to jump in place.

"I finally get to meet you! You're my idol!" she took a deep breath and held out her hand. "I'm Bianca."

I laughed and shook her hand. "The professor told me about you and your friends. It's nice to meet you Bianca." I let go of her hand and looked at the professor. "I was actually born here, but I left for my journey and then my house burnt down. You all can just call me Ace." Bianca hurried back over beside Amelia and Cheren. Cheren looked at me, but as soon as I met his gaze, he blushed and looked away. Juniper then cleared her throat and began to talk to the kids. I sighed and went back to making my lunch. I made a salad and placed it into a portable container and placed it into my backpack along with a sandwich that was in a separate portable container.

"Aceline?" The professor placed a hand on my shoulder.

I turned to her after I zipped up my bag. "Yes professor?"

She led me back into the main room with the kids. "I know you have another journey to start too, but can you help the kids if they need it?" I smiled at her and she turned back to the kids. "Meet me on Route 1 and I'll show you how to catch a pokémon." She then left and I looked at the kids.

"You might want to let your parents know where you guys are going." I smiled at them and walked out of the door with Umbreon to see Amelia's mom.

She smiled at me. "Here, I have four town maps. Take one." She held it out to me and I smiled.

"Thank you." I looked at the ground, embarrassed that I didn't already have one.

She laughed. "You're welcome. I have some interesting news for you that I was just told." She cleared her throat as the other three kids walked out of Juniper's lab. "Aceline, I'm your Father's sister. I had no idea that you were the little niece my brother always bragged about, but your mother gave me a call just a little while ago."

Amelia's jaw dropped. "Does that mean that she's my cousin?"

I was just as shocked, but I kept my composure. "That wasn't what I expected, but it's good to know I have a home to come back to after all."

Amelia nudged me with her elbow. "You should travel around with me."

I nodded. "I will but first I have to return these little guys to a PC so that I can start a journey from the beginning." I patted Espeon's pokéball as I spoke.

"Do you always start exploring a region from the beginning like as in making it a first time thing?" Bianca's eyes lit up with curiosity. I nodded and smiled.

"I'll meet you three at Route 1 with Professor Juniper." I placed the town map in my bag and ran off towards Route 1. I sprayed Repel so that I wouldn't see any pokémon. I ran all the way to Acumula Town. I hurried to the PC and stored all six of the pokémon around my belt.

Umbreon smirked up at me. "I'm so glad that _I_ don't have to go into one of those blasted pokéballs."

I grinned as we left Acumula Town. "Well as I said before, I don't like placing my friends in them, but I don't really have a choice. You were my first friend and you're my best friend, Umbreon. You get special privileges." Umbreon grinned back at me as we traced our way back to where Nuvema Town became Route 1.

Professor Juniper walked up to me with an egg that was violently shaking. "Aceline, take this!" My eyes widened and I took the egg, but as soon as it was in my hands, it hatched. I blinked when I saw the small black and red foxlike pokémon. She looked up at me and blinked as I placed her on the ground. I took out my pokédex and scanned the pokémon in the Unova region mode.

"Number seventy-six, Zorua the tricky fox pokémon of the dark type. To protect themselves from danger they hide their true identities by transforming into people and pokémon." I rolled my eyes and turned my pokédex to mute so that every time I scanned a pokémon, I didn't have to hear the annoying automated voice.

I knelt down in front of the little Zorua. "Hello Zorua. I'm Aceline and I'm your mommy." Zorua sat and looked around before she slowly walked to my outstretched hand. She sniffed it and her tail wagged. She then rubbed up against my hand and made a small cry, which I understood as "Mommy".

I stood up and smirked at Juniper. "You really like giving pokémon to people don't you?"

She smiled back at me as I threw the pieces of Zorua's eggshell into the tall grass. "Aceline, I enjoy bringing people and pokémon together. Have these pokéballs since you don't have any with you." She handed me six pokéballs and I knew one was for Zorua. I placed five of the pokéballs into my bag before enlarging one and placing it by the newly hatched Zorua.

I looked into her eyes with a soft authority. "Zorua, return." She cried and practically jumped into the pokéball. Once the ball closed, I picked it up and placed it on my belt. I noticed that my repel wore off and I looked at Juniper, who stood where she was and dropped a wink at me. I sighed and started to walk around in the tall grass with Umbreon at my side and a hand on Zorua's pokéball.

It was silent as I wandered the grassy area until a loud bark sounded and caused me to nearly jump out of my skin. Umbreon chuckled. "I like this one." I turned to my right where Umbreon had been looking to see a dog-like pokémon. I took out my pokédex and let it scan the pokémon silently before hastily placing it away once more. I was facing a Lillipup, a very common pokémon for children to own.

"Go, Zorua!" I threw Zorua's pokéball into the air and she was released, landing lightly on her paws. She let out an excited cry and the Lillipup barked back.

"Zorua use tackle!" I commanded. Zorua charged at the Lillipup and tackled him to the ground. The Lillipup leered at Zorua, causing her to shiver as her defense fell.

"Zorua, use tackle again!" I ordered as kindly as I could. Zorua nodded and tackled the Lillipup again, causing the poor thing to stagger out of sight and faint. I grinned and knelt by Zorua. "You did great and you even leveled up! I'm so proud of you." I pet the little pokémon's head.

I called Zorua back and Umbreon and I continued walking. "I still remember our first battle, Master. Do you?"

I looked down at the companion next to me and smiled. "Of course I do Umbreon. It was the same morning you hatched and our first meeting. I had no pokémon with me and while Gary went to get his uncle, you protected me from the wild Pidgey that attacked me. I won't ever forget it." As we kept walking we ran into another Lillipup.

"Come on out-" Before I could finish speaking and release Zorua, Zorua released herself practically.

She looked back at me. "I'm ready to battle."

I smiled and nodded. "Use tackle!" Zorua jumped at the Lillipup, but it dodged and tackled Zorua instead. Zorua growled and the Lillipup jumped off to leer back at Zorua. "Try using tackle again." Zorua let out a cry of frustration and tackled the Lillipup. Lillipup growled and I grinned.

"Use tackle once more, Zorua!" I cried, getting out an empty pokéball. I clicked the center button to enlarge the pokéball to prepare it for a catch. Zorua tackled the annoyed Lillipup and I threw a pokéball at it. It wiggled for a little bit before I heard the satisfied click. I picked up the pokéball and it returned to it's tiny size. "Welcome to the family Lillipup. Zorua, return!" Zorua returned to her pokéball and her ball was joined on my belt with Lillipup's.

"Ace!" Amelia jogged up behind me and she was flanked by Cheren and Bianca.

I turned to them and smirked. "So you guys take your first steps away from home together." Umbreon chuckled next to me.

"How many pokémon have you caught?" asked Bianca excitedly.

"I have Umbreon and two others, but I mostly trying to train my starter pokémon right now."

"What starter did you get?" There was a certain shine in Cheren's eyes almost as if he could predict my answer before I said it.

I smirked and winked. "You'll have to find out whenever we battle, but I'm not going to battle any of you guys right now because my starter pokémon hatched from an egg thirty minutes ago."

Amelia looked at Cheren and then at Bianca. "What about the contest?"

Bianca's eyes lit up. "I'm going to win Cheren!" She then dashed away in the direction of Acumula Town, almost as if to prove her point.

Cheren's eyes furrowed and he followed in the same direction. "We'll see about that," he murmured to himself, although I heard it.

I raised an eyebrow at Amelia once Cheren and Bianca were out of sight. "What's the contest?"

Amelia grinned. "Who can catch the most pokémon before getting to Acumula Town. We're meeting the professor there next."

I nodded. "Are you going to stick around me while I train?"

Amelia smiled. "My mom said I should spend as much time with you as I can since I've practically never met you before and you're my cousin."

"Well then I take that as a yes." I grinned at her when a sudden chattering noise caught my attention. I took out my pokédex and it scanned the pokémon, revealing it to be a Patrat. I put my pokédex away and tossed Zorua's ball into the air. "Let's go!"

Once Zorua appeared, Amelia gasped. "I've heard of these pokémon! You can almost never find them!"

"Zorua use tackle!" My command was obeyed well and it had been a critical hit, causing the Patrat to be in critical condition on the first hit. I took a pokéball and enlarged it before I threw it at the Patrat. The Patrat was too weak to fight against the pokéball and after wiggling only once, I heard it click and the ball shrunk again. I picked it up and placed it on my belt with Lillipup.

I held Zorua's ball open. "Come back, Zorua." Once Zorua returned and I placed her ball back on my belt, I turned to Amelia. "Can we go back to your house for a little bit? I need a break."

Amelia nodded. "Of course!" We made our way through the grass back to Nuvema town. "So why did you leave?"

I shrugged. "Well my father had wanted me to meet my mother, since they had split when I was really young. So I started my journey in the Kanto region instead of Unova."

Umbreon stretched. "Master, I'm hungry."

I looked down at Umbreon. "Are you serious?"

Amelia raised an eyebrow at me. "What?"

I groaned. "Umbreon is hungry again."

Her eyes widened. "How do you know that?"

"I can talk to pokémon-" I covered my mouth with both of my hands and closed my eyes. I cursed internally for being so careless.

"You can WHAT?" Amelia's shock and disbelief was plain in her tone although I couldn't see her expression.

I took a deep breath and opened my eyes. "Well, I can talk to pokémon."

Amelia's shock faded instantly and she grinned madly. "That is _so_ cool!"

I laughed lightly. "I guess so, but sometimes it feels like a curse. Especially when I hear the pokémon that have been abused." I swallowed the knot in my throat. "Sometimes it's almost too painful to bear, but then Umbreon always helps me through it." I smiled down at Umbreon who looked away and muttered something like, "It's my duty."

I laughed as the three of us entered Amelia's house. "Are you guys back so soon or do you guys just need a break?" It was hard to believe that Amelia's mom was related to my dad.

I noticed stairs that led below the first floor and I raised an eyebrow at Amelia. "I didn't notice those stairs before. Where do they lead to?"

Amelia's mom grinned. "Amelia has a twin brother named Aidan. He left last night for his journey because he was too anxious to wait for Amelia's pokémon to get here."

Amelia's jaw dropped. "You mean Aidan was in on this too?" Before Amelia's mom could answer, Amelia's Xtransceiver rang. She answered it and on the screen I saw a boy that I automatically knew to be Aidan because of the striking resemblance.

"Hey Amelia, I heard room the Professor that you've started your journey?"

Amelia nodded. "Yeah and you won't believe who's here with me!"

Aidan chuckled. "Who would that be?"

"Aceline! You know the famous singer! What's cooler is that she's our cousin!" blurted Amelia with excitement.

I saw the shock on Aidan's face. "Wow, that's cool!" Aidan brushed off his shock quickly and smirked. "Well I'm kind of at work right now in Nacrene City. Once you get here we can battle."

Amelia grinned. "You're on, Aidan!" With a laugh, Aidan hung up the Xtransceiver and grinned at me. "Let's go chill in my room for a little bit. You can leave your pokémon down here, my mom will get them rested and healthy again."

I nodded and Umbreon lightly head butted my leg with a whine. "What about me? I'm hungry and tired!"

I laughed. "You can stay down here Umbreon, you'll be full before you know it." Umbreon shrugged and curled up near the table as I handed my pokéballs over to my Aunt.

"What did Umbreon say?" asked Amelia curiously as we walked up to her room.

I sighed. "He just wanted some food and a nap." Amelia nodded and sighed in relief when we reached her spotless room. I raised an eyebrow at her. "What?"

She laughed nervously. "Well when the three of us first chose our pokémon, Bianca challenged me to a battle and it wrecked the entire room. Then once I beat Bianca, I battled Cheren, knowing that he was smart enough to not ruin the room any more than it was." Amelia sat on her double bed as I looked more carefully around the room. She had a TV, a Wii, a bookshelf, and even a computer.

"So what starter did you choose?" I asked as I sat next to Amelia.

She grinned and tossed her pokéball into the air. "Come on out Snivy!" I pulled my pokédex out of my bag and let it scan the pokémon. Amelia snorted at my old and abused pokédex. "Once we meet up with the professor, we're getting you a new pokédex so you don't have to scan pokémon the old fashioned way."

I laughed and put my pokédex away. "So what time is it anyway? I'm getting a little anxious."

"It's almost nine in the morning. We got a big head start to the day, huh?" Snivy jumped into Amelia's lap silently and curled up.

"Aceline, your pokémon are fed and rested now if you're ready to head out again. Amelia I have a bagged lunch for you." Amelia's mom smiled at us from the staircase and I hadn't even heard her approach. We nodded and followed Amelia's mom downstairs as Amelia carried her Snivy. When we got downstairs, my Aunt handed me my three tiny pokéballs, which I placed back on my belt and Umbreon walked by my heels once more.

Amelia grabbed her lunch and hugged her mom before the two of us walked out of the house once again with our pokémon.

"Let the training begin," stated Umbreon as we headed into the grass.


	2. Chapter 2: A New Journey

Bubblykunzyz: He it's me again! I'm uploading the second chapter! Woot! I have so much fun with this story. (A little too much) XD Anyway I don't own pokemon! Enjoy! Please do review, I like hearing what you guys think! Just don't make anything too hateful or mean, that makes me sad :( But read on and enjoy!

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Chapter Two: A New Journey

Once all my pokémon were at level ten, Amelia and I met up with Cheren and Bianca at the edge of Acumula Town. On the way a random girl had given me a potion, which was pretty useful.

"What kept you guys so long?" asked Cheren as he fixed his glasses.

Amelia shrugged. "I was helping Ace train. All her pokémon are at level ten already!"

Bianca rushed over to us. "How many pokémon does each of us have? We each have two, except for Ace, who has three." Bianca grinned. "Ace wins the contest!"

Umbreon rolled his eyes. "She's way too hyper for my taste." I laughed and high-fived Amelia.

Cheren sighed. "I'm going to check out the town and meet up with the professor."

No sooner had he said that, his, Amelia's and Bianca's Xtransceivers rang. The three started to talk to the professor while Umbreon and I walked into the tiny town. I decided to go to the pokémon center when I ran right into someone. It was a guy who looked to be around my age with long light green hair. He had a white overshirt over a black shirt and he wore khaki pants and a baseball cap.

"Oh my gosh I'm so sorry." I took a step away from the boy.

Umbreon snickered. "Klutz."

I frowned and looked at Umbreon. "I am not." When I looked back to the boy he simply smiled and walked away. "Okay then," I muttered before walking into the pokémon center.

Nurse Joy smiled at me as I approached the counter and handed her my pokéballs. "Good afternoon, miss Aceline."

I smiled. "It's a pleasure to see you Nurse Joy."

"As you, Aceline." She grinned when she saw Umbreon. "Let me go heal these little guys and I'll get right back to you." She scuttled into the back, beyond my sight and I could hear the whirring of the machines at work.

"Can I have a treat, Master?" Umbreon pawed at my leg.

I sighed. "I guess so." I took out one-hundred out of my five-hundred dollars and walked over to the blue counter. "Excuse me, can I buy four pokémon treats?"

The man at the counter shook his head with a smile. "Since it's your first time here, you can have four for free." He handed me four cookie-like things that I knew to be pokémon treats.

I took them and smiled. "Thank you so much." I hurried back over to Nurse Joy's counter and placed my money back into my bag. I took one of the treats and tossed it into the air. Umbreon leapt at it and caught it in his mouth before doing a front-flip and landing lightly on his paws. He then laid down and enjoyed his treat. I laughed and Nurse Joy returned back to the counter with the three pokéballs.

"Here you go Aceline, see you again." Nurse Joy waved and walked back into the back. I tossed the three pokéballs into the air and out came Zorua, Lillipup, and Patrat. I gave them each a cookie and Zorua was the first to finish. She tried to steal Umbreon's, but Umbreon snapped at her so she walked back to me and I returned her to her pokéball. Once the others finished I did the same for them.

Umbreon stood up and stretched as Professor Juniper walked in followed by Bianca and Amelia. She led them to the counter where I was and I stepped out of the way to let them talk to Nurse Joy. Amelia shot me a smile which I returned before I stepped outside into the air that was changing and getting colder.

"Time to buy some winter clothes, Master." Umbreon stated that in a matter-of-fact tone.

I was shocked beyond belief. "I thought it was the Autumn still!"

"That tends to happen sometimes if you live in a place that has no summer or winter." Cheren's voice startled me enough to make me jump back and trip to end up on my butt.

"Well it's hardly my fault if I never get cold!" I stated crossly as Cheren helped me up.

"I just thought she was a hooker!" laughed an older man. My jaw dropped and Umbreon growled and tackled the man to the ground.

"I'M GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU THE NEXT TIME YOU EVEN THINK OF MY MASTER!" growled Umbreon furiously.

Cheren smirked. "I bet Umbreon would be cussing him out silly if Umbreon could talk."

I opened my mouth to say that he could talk, but that was when I remembered that only Amelia knew. "You have no idea," I said sarcastically instead.

The guy looked terribly frightened. "Please! I'm sorry!"

I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms. "Come on Umbreon, he's not worth it." I started to walk away towards the plaza and Umbreon and Cheren followed me. A crowd was gathered to watch a guy with weird hair and robes as if he was the messiah. His hair was the same color as the guy I had run into earlier and this guy who claimed to be named Ghetsis rambled on about pokémon liberation, which appalled me. I silently wondered if he could talk to pokémon like I could.

"He's crazy if he think his little speech will change anything. I for one would like to rip his head off for suggesting anything like that," grumbled Umbreon in annoyance.

I snickered and looked through the crowd before my eyes met a pair of strangely familiar lime green eyes. The guy I had run into earlier was looking at me as if I had insulted him. His eyes looked down to Umbreon and a smirk tugged at the corners of his mouth.

The man with the speech finished up and left, which caused people to disperse from the plaza. There was only Cheren, Umbreon, me and the green-haired boy left. The boy walked up to us and knelt down to be at eye level with Umbreon. He then stood back up straight and looked me in the eye, although I was shorter than him.

The guy was looking into my eyes with a certain intensity. "Your pokémon, just now it was saying-"

"Slow down. You talk too fast. And what's this about pokémon...talking? That's an odd thing to say." Cheren fixed his glasses before he looked around and turned to me. "Listen Ace, I'm going to get a head start for the gym badge. See you around." He waved and walked through the gate onto the next route.

"You can hear them too can't you? My name is N." The guy had a certain hope in his eye and I nodded, dropping my gaze.

I smiled, still not meeting the N's gaze. "I'm Ace. The boy was Cheren and he was one of three kids from Nuvema Town asked to complete a pokédex. I've been doing it for every region, completing the pokédex and becoming a champion. I'm mostly just a singer that happened to be born in Unova."

"The pokédex eh? So...you're going to confine many many pokémon in pokéballs for that then. I'm a trainer too, but I can't help wondering, are pokémon really happy that way? Well Ace is it? Let me hear your pokémon's voice again!" N threw out a pokéball which turned out to be a cat pokémon I didn't know of. I threw out Zorua and took out my pokédex to scan the cat which turned out to be a Purrloin.

"Zorua use bite!" I commanded as I had a stare down with N.

As Zorua got near, N smirked. "Purrloin dodge and use scratch!" Zorua did manage to bite Purrloin's tail, but in return she got scratched across the nose.

"Tackle!" Zorua cried out in pain from the scratch, but tackled Purrloin to the ground anyway.

"Scratch again, Purrloin!" N's face looked like it was twisted in agony, a mirror of my own feelings.

"Tackle one last time, Zorua!" The Purrloin tried to keep standing to fight off Zorua's attack. Zorua cried out, "For Mommy!" and charged at the cat pokémon.

"I never expected to hear pokémon say such things," whispered N almost mutely before Zorua delivered the final blow to the Purrloin. It was knocked out cold. N smiled and returned Purrloin to it's pokéball. N walked over closer to me to where I could feel his breath on my hair. "As long as pokémon are confined in pokéballs pokémon will never become perfect beings. I have to change the world for pokémon because they're my friends." He then turned and left almost as if he didn't meet me.

"Mommy are you okay?" Zorua pawed at my ankle.

I smiled and nodded. "Yes I am, Zorua. Thank you and return." Zorua returned to her pokéball and I walked back towards the poke center to heal up my pokémon before I traveled to Striaton City.

"Ace!" Amelia grabbed my wrist and dragged me up to the professor who was just exiting the poke center. "Can you update her pokédex to one like mine?"

My eyes widened. "You don't have to! I'm perfectly fine with the one I have and-"

Juniper laughed. "Don't worry Aceline, I'd transfer all of your data over as well."

I sighed in relief and handed my pokédex over. "I'll be right back. I need to heal my pokémon and then we can have lunch in the plaza." My words were directed for Amelia, but Juniper smiled anyway. Umbreon and I walked back into the poke center and I handed my pokéballs to Nurse Joy as my Xtransceiver rang.

It was my aunt. "Ace?"

I smiled. "Hello."

"Your mother called and she desperately wants to talk to you. Can you please let me give them your Xtransceiver code?" Amelia's mother's voice was almost cold as if she was annoyed.

"It seems like you don't want to give it to her either," I mumbled with the thought that she couldn't hear me.

"I honestly don't but your mother is threatening to come over here if you don't contact her."

I snorted. "Those are empty threats and even if she does come, there's no way she can find me." Amelia's mom looked kind of hurt.

"I'll pass on the message." She hung up and I sighed.

Nurse Joy returned my pokéballs. I left the pokémon center, I saw Amelia waiting for me in the plaza.

"Hurry up Ace, I'm starving!" cried Amelia as she sat down on a bench.

I laughed and jogged over to her, Umbreon at my heels. "Alright, alright. I'm here already." We talked as we ate part of our lunches, agreeing that we would probably need some food later. Amelia went to go find Bianca while I continued on ahead and passed through the man-made tunnel. Once in the tunnel, I saw professor Juniper.

She smiled at me and handed me a new pokédex. "I'm going to take you're old one back to my place, but for right now you can just use this demo pokédex. It only register's Unova pokémon so I uploaded your Unova pokémon onto that pokédex. I'll hopefully see you again soon." Without another word she walked away.

"Well that was quite rude," mumbled Umbreon in distaste.

I snickered and we continued to Route 2. I saw another trainer and battled him with his level seven Patrat. He was too easy to beat. We walked back through the grass and I tripped over something. Umbreon laughed and I scowled, brushing myself off as I stood up.

What I had tripped over was a random potion. "Well I guess it's free game huh Umbreon?"

"Anything that has been dropped is free game other than pokémon of course." Umbreon smirked and I glared down at him.

"Human?" I whipped around to see a Purrloin and I smiled.

"Hello Purrloin, are you going to come to me willingly or do I have to battle you?" I took an empty pokéball into my hands and prepared it.

The Purrloin hissed. "Willingly?! Selfish human!" I sighed and placed the pokéball back into my pocket.

I grabbed Lillipup's pokéball. "Go Lillipup!" Lillipup jumped around, excited. "Use Leer and follow up with bite!" Lillipup leered at Purrloin, and Purrloin counteracted by growling. Lillipup, who was now a little irritated, bit Purrloin hard. The Purrloin yowled loudly and growled once more. I grinned and threw my prepared pokéball at it. The pokéball wiggled once...twice...thrice...and clicked. I sighed in relief and Umbreon picked up the shrunken pokéball.

Umbreon dropped the pokéball into my hands and I placed it on my belt with the others. I grabbed the potion that I hadn't grabbed before and I ran into a wild Lillipup. "Well it's time to get Purrloin caught up. Go Purrloin!" I threw her pokéball into the air and she appeared and landed lightly on her feet.

She glared at the wild Lillipup and then looked back at me. "You're sick and twisted, you know that?"

I rolled my eyes. "It's just coincidence, Purrloin. Now use growl followed by scratch!" Purrloin mumbled something I couldn't hear and then growled at the wild Lillipup. The wild Lillipup leered back and Purrloin used scratch. "Use scratch again and follow up with tackle, Purrloin!" Purrloin rolled her eyes, but did what she was told and soon the Lillipup fainted. I grinned madly. "Good job Purrloin!"

She looked back at me shocked. "Did I really do that good of a job?"

I nodded. "Yup and you even leveled up! Two more levels until your level ten, and then we can hit Striaton City. Now return, Purrloin!" I returned her and continued, running into yet another trainer.

She threw out her level seven Purrloin and I threw out my level eight Purrloin. "Use scratch!" cried the trainer.

"Dodge it and use scratch back!" I ordered Purrloin. She smirked and easily dodged the other cat's attack. She then leaped onto the male Purrloin's back and scratched him down his spine, causing a critical hit and a one-hit-knock-out. I threw my fist into the air. "Yeah, go Purrloin!"

She smiled up at me. "Did I do well?"

I nodded. "Now return Purrloin." Once Purrloin returned to her pokéball and was back on my belt, the girl rewarded me for winning as did the boy I had faced before. Then Umbreon and I continued through more grass until we reached a hill on our right. I went up it and found a potion and a pokéball. "Whoa Umbreon. Do you think someone dropped their pokémon?"

Umbreon shook his head. "There's no pokémon in there. It's an unused pokéball. I would have been able to sense a pokémon in there if there had been one." I nodded and picked up the two things and went back down the hill to face another trainer and he had a level seven Lillipup. I took out Purrloin once more. The battle didn't last long.

As I neared entering Striaton City, I heard voices calling from behind me. I turned around to see Bianca, Cheren, and Amelia walking towards me holding their starter pokémon. "We need to battle, Ace!" cried Amelia with a huge grin on her face.

I sighed. "Alright, alright. Who's first?" Umbreon trotted over to the shade of the nearby trees and laid down.

Bianca threw her hand up. "Oh, me!" She backed up a couple of yards and threw a pokéball. "Go Lillipup!"

I smirked and grabbed my first pokéball. "Join the party Purrloin!"

Once she saw Lillipup she groaned. "Why me?"

I laughed. "Start with growl and follow up with scratch!"

Bianca looked serious. "Use tackle Lillipup!" Purrloin was much faster than Lillipup and raced towards him with a yowl. Lillipup seemed frightened and jumped behind Bianca, but Purrloin followed him and scratched him, causing a one-hit knock out.

I grinned and knelt down. "Great job Purrloin!"

She walked up to me. "Really? You promise?" I nodded and scratched her behind her ears and she purred.

Bianca threw out another pokémon, Oshawott. "We can win this!"

Purrloin jumped into position. "I don't think so."

"Purrloin use growl!" I cried as I anticipated Bianca's move.

"Use water gun, Oshawott!" The little otter listened to Bianca after Purrloin growled harshly at it.

"Use scratch, Purrloin!" Purrloin furiously shook off the water on her coat and charged at Oshawott.

"Water gun again!" cried Bianca in worry. The otter did as it was told, but Purrloin refused to get soaked again as she continuously dodged the water. Purrloin's scratch across Oshawott's face caused the otter to start crying.

Oshawott ran back to Bianca. "Mommy! Don't make me fight anymore!"

Just as Bianca was about to call out another attack, I held out my hand. "Don't push Oshawott, he's in too much pain." She looked at me, startled, but then picked up Oshawott and nodded.

"I surrender. Cheren, can you heal them?" Bianca walked over to her black-haired friend.

"I'm going to battle you next. Let me heal your pokémon first." Cheren pulled out a pokédex-like device with cords connected to it. He placed the other end of the cord that had a suction cup to Oshawott and Lillipup's pokéballs. After I had battled and beaten Cheren and his Tepig and Purrloin, he healed my pokémon again and I battled Amelia.

"You may be strong, but can you beat this! Go Patrat!" Her Patrat chattered gleefully, causing me to smile.

"Come on out Purrloin! Use assist!" She used assist and it turned into tackle, much more powerful than scratch. It was a one-hit knock out. I threw a fist into the air. "Go Purrloin!" She purred and rubbed against my leg.

Amelia grinned. "I'm not done yet. Go Snivy! Use vine whip!"

I nodded. "Fair enough young one. Use growl and follow up with scratch!" Purrloin yowled before Snivy hit her with its vine whip. Purrloin then raced to Snivy to land her scratch attack.

"Dodge it Snivy and use vine whip again!" cried Amelia.

"Don't give up, Purrloin!" I encouraged. Snivy did dodge and hit her again with vine whip, but she landed a good scratch on Snivy. "Come here, Purrloin." She walked over weakly to me and I made her swallow some potion.

"Blech!" she complained, before getting back into battle mode. "I'm ready!"

"That's my girl, Purrloin!"

Amelia nodded. "Fair enough. Snivy use vine whip and follow up with tackle!"

"Purrloin dodged Snivy's vine whip and use scratch," I commanded. Purrloin and Snivy raced at each other. Snivy used vine whip and Purrloin dodged it, using scratch. Snivy was knocked out. I returned Purrloin as Amelia returned Snivy.

Amelia smiled at me as Cheren healed her pokémon. "You're a really good trainer, Ace."

Cheren swallowed. "You are powerful and you're my role model." His face flushed and he refused to look at me.

I smiled. "Thank you guys." Cheren healed my pokémon as well.

With Umbreon at my side, I led the way into Striaton City. "So where do we want to go first?" My question was ignored as Bianca dashed to the Pokémon Center, Cheren dashed to the Gym, and Amelia walked into one of the apartment complexes. I sighed and looked at Umbreon. "What do you think, Umbreon?"

"I think we should check out the trainer's school. It's supposed to be really good." Umbreon looked up at me and sat.

I smiled and nodded. "If you insist." We walked into the trainer's school to see three kids sitting in three of the six desks, a mother and a grandfather waiting for the lesson to be over, and three teenage boys at the chalkboard explaining types.

The boys all wore waiter outfits, but one had flowing blue hair, one had short green hair and the other had red hair that reminded me of a fire. They threw their pokéballs into the air and three monkeys of colors that matched their owners appeared. The vibration of my pokédex in my bag let me know that it had finished scanning the pokémon.

The boy with the green hair cleared his throat. "It seems that we have a guest." The other two looked at me and I looked away.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt your lesson." At my voice, the kids looked at me as well.

The blue-haired boy smiled when I looked back up. "It wasn't an interruption. Would you like to help us?"

I smiled back and nodded as I made my way up to the classroom. "I'm Aceline and this is Umbreon."

The red-haired boy grinned. "I'm Chili, and these are my brothers, Cilan with the green hair and Cress with the blue hair."

Cress motioned to a space next to him. "We were just talking about how the pokémon's type can affect the power given for a move."

"For example," began Cilan, "if my grass type pokémon, Pansage, were to use vine whip, the move's power would be doubled due to the fact that the move's type is grass and it is being used by a grass pokémon."

"We have to specialize in types because we're the Striaton City Gym Leaders!" boasted Chili, with an over exaggerated grin.

I laughed. "Well then one of my friends should be storming in here at any moment." Almost directly after that, Cheren walked through the door. "I told ya so."

Cheren ignored the fact that I was there. "I wish to take the Gym Badge challenge!"

"Well what was your starter pokémon?" Cilan eyed Cheren warily.

Confusion swept over Cheren's features. "Tepig, why?"

"These brothers battle depending on type match-ups. I'm guessing that you'll have to battle Cress." Umbreon nodded in agreement to my statement at my feet.

"That is very true, Aceline." Cress stepped forward. "You may call me Cress, specialist of water-type pokémon."

Cheren nodded. "I'm Cheren, and I'll beat you, no problem!" Cheren then walked out of the school, knowing that he had to train.

"Just out of curiosity, are you taking the Gym Badge challenge?" asked Cress smoothly as if he was confident in his own abilities.

I nodded. "Yes, but there's a problem."

"What is your problem?" asked Cilan.

I bit my lip. "My starter was Zorua, a dark-type."

"That's no problem!" Chili grabbed my hand and began to drag me out of the school, his brothers following us. "You can battle all three of us!"

Once we were outside, it was clear that Umbreon was fed up with people touching me and he ran up to Chili and slammed into his side, causing the startled Chili to let go of me. "Don't you _dare_ touch my Master!"

"It's okay Umbreon, I'm fine." I walked over to Chili and bowed. "I'm sorry about that, Umbreon's slightly overprotective of me."

Chili grinned and laughed with his brothers. "It's okay; it's actually kind of nice to think that you and your pokémon have such a close bond."

I smiled. "Thank you, I'll see you guys later. I'm going to go train some." I began to walk towards the Pokémon Center when Umbreon darted off towards the woods in the northern corner of the city.

"Master, follow me!" I ran after Umbreon until I noticed a sign that read: Dreamyard. I sighed and continued on, battling the two trainers that crossed my path. I saw Cheren, Bianca, and Amelia talking to another girl. She gave them each a pokéball, and they then left the Dreamyard.

I walked up to the girl. "Um, excuse me, you gave my friends pokémon?"

She nodded. They were training and I noticed their starter pokémon. Luckily I had the elemental monkey pokémon to give them and help them with their gym badge challenge." I smiled and with a nod, I walked away.

"I say that's cheating, and you're not a cheater." Umbreon's voice had a hint of disgust in it.

"I know that it's cheating. Why do you think I always start over?" I smirked at Umbreon and received a smirk in return.

"You're not a cheater!"

I laughed as we exited the Dreamyard. "You are absolutely correct." I walked back into the grass to see Bianca, Cheren, and Amelia training together. I soon joined in until all four of my pokémon were at level fifteen.

The four of us then burst into the gym to run into a café. "Whoa, this place is so cool," stated Bianca in awe.

"You guys have never been to a pokémon café before? Basically it's where they serve people and pokémon." I had been to many pokémon cafés with Umbreon in the past.

A suspicious looking guy handed each of us a bottle of water. "This gym is a puzz-"

"You step on the type that beats the one on the curtain." It was a guess, but the guy seemed shocked. I raised an eyebrow. "What? It's actually simple and easy to figure out if the gym leaders battle you based on your starter pokémon."

"Good job, Master." Umbreon rubbed against my leg. I smiled and looked at the first curtain, which was red with the fire symbol on it.

"Water," mumbled Cheren as he stepped on the blue water symbol button on the floor. There was a congratulating _ding_ as the curtain opened. Cheren sighed and continued into the next room, the curtain closing behind him.

"Do you think he'll get the badge Amelia?" asked Bianca excitedly.

Amelia laughed. "Of course he will! Cheren's been dreaming of this since he was two!"

I sighed and walked over to the cashier, where a kind waitress stood. "May I help you?" she asked sweetly.

"Would you happen to have speakers and a microphone?" Umbreon groaned at my suggestion.

She nodded, "I'll take you to the karaoke room, free for your use." She led me through the curtains and I caught a peek at Cheren battling one of the trainers. I even walked past the bored gym leaders into what she called the battle entertainment room. It was like any other battle ground except on the far wall was a raised stage and a karaoke set.

I took the microphone and began to sing one of my songs that would hopefully inspire the trainers, leaders and my friends. The song was called "It's a whole new world." As I sang I noticed Cress and Cheren entering to battle while I sang. I sang throughout Cheren and Amelia's victories and even Bianca's loss. I battled the trainers without any problems and before each new battle, Cheren healed both teams pokémon. Soon I was facing Cress and his water type pokémon.

"Are you sure you want to face me first?" he asked with a smirk.

I grinned. "Oh, you bet! I won't lose to the first gym leaders." I went through with my statement and beat Cress with Patrat and Purrloin, but Patrat was withdrawn before he could get knocked out.

"I call battling her next!" cried Cilan much to my surprise. I had imagined that he was the shy one. I easily beat his Pansage with Lillipup. Chili was next and I smirked at him as he looked me up and down.

"If I'm as hot as fire, you're an explosion!" He winked at me and I laughed while Umbreon growled.

"Well your fire will be dowsed soon, I assure you. Go Zorua!" Zorua was jumping around, once released, excitedly.

"Let's go, let's go, let's show 'em!" she cried.

Chili frowned slightly at my remark and tossed up his pokéball, revealing his Pansear. I grinned. "Perfect. Zorua let's do this." The battle started and soon finished.

The three brothers smiled. Cilan stepped forward and handed me the trio badge as Cheren healed my pokémon. "You beat the three of us back to back, without any of your pokémon fainting. Your talented and you deserve this." I smiled and took the badge, placing it in my badge case.

"Here's the TM you deserve." Chili handed me them and the turned his back to me, embarrassed.

Cress then stepped forward. "You beat us fair and square so would you like to stay for dinner? It would be an honor if you accept." He bowed, followed by Cilan, and then Chili.

I grinned. "Let's find a table for all of us."

Bianca squealed. "It doesn't matter if I lost, it was a learning experience!"

"I'm going to get stronger and become the champion!" Cheren stood proudly.

"I'm going to have an amazing journey!" Amelia threw a fist in the air.

I smiled weakly. "I'm going to try to live a normal life." Everyone looked at me as Umbreon and I found a table for two.

"She _is_ Aceline!" cried Chili and Cilan at the same time. I sweat-dropped with Umbreon.

"You didn't know this?" asked Cress quizzically as he sat across from me. Cilan sat at a table with Bianca and Amelia, while Cheren sat with Chili.

"No!" cried the brothers. "You did?"

Cress sighed and nodded. "As soon as I saw her at the Trainer's school. You guys are just oblivious to the beautiful girl." Cress winked at me and I felt my face flush.

"Ohmygosh! She's blushing!" cried Bianca and all eyes turned suddenly to me. I jumped up and bolted out of there as fast as I could. I ran into one of the apartment complexes to run into Juniper's friend, Fennel.

"Are you okay, Ace?" asked a voice from behind me. I looked down at Umbreon and shook my head.

I turned to Fennel. "I'm sorry to rush in like this, it's a long story."

She smiled. "Well you've grown up a lot since I last saw you, Aceline." She pulled out a disk-like thing and handed it to me. "It's cut. You can use it in places like the Dreamyard." I took it and looked at my watch. It was only six and I wasn't planning on stopping until nine or ten. I smiled and darted out of the apartment. I skidded to a stop in front of Cress, who had come back to get me.

"I'm really sorry about what happened back there, I didn't mean to embarrass you." Cress bowed and I smiled.

"It's not your fault." My stomach growled and Cress laughed.

"It seems like you still need to eat." He then led me back to café to eat. I made sure to order more than Umbreon or I could eat so that we would have leftovers for tomorrow. After everyone was stuffed and we had paid, everyone split up and went in their own direction. I headed out to the Dreamyard again. I walked over to the tree and grinned.

"I don't need a silly HM to get past the tree."

Umbreon snickered. "What are you gonna do, fly?"

I stuck my tongue out at my companion. "Hardy har-har." I backed up a few steps and ran at the tree, grabbing it's branches and climbing up it. I then jumped out to the other side. "Come on Umbreon, I know you can do this."

"Hardy har-har," mocked Umbreon before he was by my side again.

I saw Bianca and walked up to her. "Hey Bianca."

She turned around. "Oh, hi Ace!"

"What are you doing here?" I asked her, looking around.

"Well Fennel asked me to get some dream mist for her research. What about you?"

"I'm just here just to be here." I got out my demo pokédex as a pink pokémon appeared. It was a pokémon called Munna.

Two people then appeared and went on either side of Munna. They were from team Plasma, the people that wanted to liberate pokémon. What baffled me though, was when they began to kick Munna. "Ow, make them stop!" cried the Munna.

I growled and charged, kicking the people away from the poor pokémon. "How _dare_ you!" I growled. "You claim to liberate pokémon from abusive people, and yet you kick this poor Munna for no reason!"

The guy cleared his throat. "In order to liberate pokémon from foolish trainers, we need some dream mist that this pokémon gives off."

I rolled my eyes. "It gives off dream mist when it _eats_ pleasant dreams! You're about as stupid as your silly cause!"

The girl growled. "Ignorant fool, we shall liberate pokémon, starting with yours!"

The boy threw his pokéball to reveal a Patrat. "Go Patrat!"

I snorted. "Come on out Lillipup!" I tossed a pokéball into the air and Lillipup came out, landing on his paws. "Use bite!" I cried as Lillipup charged at his victim. Lillipup ran past the Patrat, turned around and lunged at the back of the Patrat's neck. Lillipup then dropped the knocked out Patrat and walked back over to me.

The boy returned his pokémon to its pokéball and then his female counterpart stepped forward. "You bothersome kid; I'll teach you a lesson!" Her pokémon turned out to be a Purrloin.

I returned Lillipup. "Come on out Purrloin!"

Once Purrloin was out of her pokéball she grinned. "Now I could get used to battling stupid people."

I laughed. "Alright Purrloin, let's finish them off with a one-hit-knock-out! Use bite!"

"Use scratch!" cried the girl. The two cats charged at each other and wrestled around before jumping away from each other.

"Finish them off with scratch," I ordered, seeing the other Purrloin's critical condition.

"Try scratch once more," growled the other trainer. Her Purrloin scratched my Purrloin first, but it wasn't enough to make her faint. Her Purrloin was out once she received the next blow. She returned Purrloin. "We need that dream mist to free all the pokémon in the world!"

"Well kicking Munna won't work! That'll just make her angry!" I froze when Ghetsis showed up. He also showed up in a different place as well, confusing both me and Bianca. He then teleported in front of Munna.

"What are you guys goofing off for?" growled Ghetsis.

The plasma grunts started shaking. The guy swallowed. "This isn't Ghetsis when he's gathering followers or giving speeches-"

"This is Ghetsis when a plan has failed and he's going to issue a punishment!" finished the girl as both of them ran off. Ghetsis disappeared leaving Bianca and me stunned.

"...What was that just now? That person called Ghetsis appeared all over the place, and it wasn't real, right?! ...Could it have been a dream?" Bianca looked at me for an answer and I shrugged. "And that Pokémon..." The pokémon she referred to was the one that looked similar to Munna. I got out my pokédex and the pokémon turned out to be the evolved form of Munna, Musharna.

Munna floated over to me. "Thank you," it cried.

"Munna, would you like to join my team?" I asked, holding out a pokéball.

"You saved me, so naturally yes." I smiled and tossed the pokéball into the air and Munna was placed inside. The pokéball landed back in my hand and I placed the shrunken ball onto my belt.

I turned to Bianca. "I've got to go, so I'll see you around. Umbreon can you get the items laying around?"

Umbreon nodded. "Of course Master." He then ran around and collected a pokéball, paralyze heal, potion, and repel. I placed the items in my bag and jumped over the tree again with Umbreon.

Fennel walked by, but once she realized it was me, she grabbed my arm and dragged me back to her apartment. "Hey I want to give you this, it's called C-gear. Do you know about it?"

I nodded. "Juniper might have mentioned it."

Fennel frowned. "Aw, I wanted to tell you about it. Oh well. I'm leaving to go get the dream mist I need." She then ran out of the room.

"Do you have a Pal Pad?" Amanita, the girl who had created the storage box system for Unova walked up to me from across the room. When I shook my head no, she gave me one. It looked like a notebook, but with Pal Pad printed across the front.

"Thank you." I smiled at her and left with Umbreon at my heels.

"Everyone seriously needs to stop grabbing you," growled Umbreon as he looked around. We continued walking, leaving Striaton. We walked until we passed a daycare for pokémon and a daycare for children. I saw some rustling grass in a patch near the daycare and walked over to it. It turned out to be a female Audino that I ended up catching. I then walked into the pokémon daycare and stored Audino into a box.

"Are you sure that the pokémon are alright though? How do you know if they are happy or not?" The voice was familiar.

The daycare lady cleared her throat. "I'm not sure exactly who you think you are, barging in here and talking to me about how happy pokémon are or aren't. This is a daycare, not a prison."

I turned around with a gasp; it was N. "What are you doing here?"

N turned around, surprised at first, but then he smiled. "Just stopping by. How are you, Ace, was it?"

I shrugged. "I'm fine." A yawn escaped my lips and Umbreon yawned as well.

"Your pokémon is tired and so are you." N looked deep into my eyes.

I shrugged. "I work late shifts."

"And I'm nocturnal!" chimed in Umbreon, causing me to laugh.

N walked up to me and leaned in close to my ear. "I'll save all of the pokémon I can, because they're my friends and I can't stand to see them hurt. I wish everyone was more like you." He then left the daycare to who-knows-where.

"Weirdo," grumbled Umbreon.

"Excuse me, miss. Do you need a room?"

I turned to the daycare lady. "Yes."

She looked at Umbreon. "I'm sorry, but your pokémon wouldn't-"

I frowned. "I'll sleep outside then." I began walking out. "Let's go, Umbreon." Umbreon trotted up to my side. When I exited and began to walk to the child daycare, a worker walked up to me.

"Excuse me, no one has passed by in a while and the kids are really sad. Could you battle with them?" She bit her lip and I nodded. She beamed and then gasped. "You're Aceline, the singer aren't you?"

I sighed. "Yeah, that's me."

"Kids!" she cried, "The famous singer and national champion, Aceline, is here to battle with you guys!" The three kids gave cries and shouts of joy before running over to me.

The first little boy that battled me had a Pansear and I battled it with Munna, to get Munna caught up with my other pokémon. I then battled a little girl that had a Panpour with Munna. I also battled another little boy that had a Pansage. Afterwards they each asked me to sign something of theirs, which I did.

The worker walked up to me. "Thank you very much. Is there any way I can repay you?"

I looked at Umbreon. "Well the pokémon daycare lady wouldn't let my pokémon stay with me if I were to take a room there so I said I would sleep outside."

She gasped. "That's not acceptable for a star! You can stay here." She led me into the child daycare and talked to the owner for a short while. It turned out that the owner of the child daycare was the daughter of the pokémon daycare lady. Soon, I was led into a dark back room with a bed. I took my pokémon out of there balls and climbed into my bed.

"You guys can sleep where you want." Saying that was a mistake because as soon as it left my lips, all five pokémon, including Umbreon who was already lying next to me, got on my bed with me. I was grateful when my dreams took me at last.


	3. Chapter 3: Touring the World

Bubblykunzyz: Hey! I hope you guys are enjoying the story so far! I know I'm enjoying it XD I do not own pokemon but if i did, id be a millionaire! Anyways, enjoy chapter 3!

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Chapter Three: Touring the World

When I woke up, all of my pokémon were still in the bed with me. I returned them to their pokéballs, got into a new change of clothes and ate my leftover lunch from yesterday for breakfast, giving some of it to Umbreon. My outfit consisted of baggy, navy blue pants, tennis shoes, and a red camisole. I walked over to the pokémon daycare and placed my Patrat in storage.

I then walked out to Route 3 just as two team plasma goons pushed me out of their way and continued running. "It's six o' clock in the morning!" I growled. They had knocked me into some tall grass. I got back up as a pokémon jumped in front of me. My pokédex revealed it to be a Blitzle.

"Catch me if you can, silly trainer!" called the Blitzle, sticking its tongue out at me.

I grinned. "You asked for it, come on out Lillipup!" Fighting and catching Blitzle was easy, but trying to catch a Pidove while battling them with Blitzle was a little more difficult. After a while, I caught a Pidove, having Umbreon take him to the pc at the daycare, and rode Blitzle to the nearby cave known as Wellspring Cave. I got off of him and returned him to his pokéball. It would be a dead end for team Plasma.

The two I had chased stood just inside the entrance, as if waiting for me. "So kind of you to wait for me." I smirked, Umbreon smirking with me.

The girl whipped around and gasped. "Ace!"

I frowned, it was Natalie. "So this is what you've done with your life. How sad."

"You're pokémon are sad to be used as tools!" she cried. "Go Patrat!"

I snorted. "Says the girl who can't talk to pokémon! Go Blitzle!"

"So the rumors are true. You _can_ talk to pokémon. Use bite, Patrat."

I glared at her. "You traitor! Use shockwave!" Her Patrat was knocked out in one hit.

"Pokémon will be liberated, you'll see," she hissed before returning her pokémon and running off with her partner. Two more team plasma members challenged me to a double battle and I couldn't refuse. They were beaten within three rounds and when they ran off, they dropped something. I walked over and picked up the pokéball as Umbreon jumped over a ledge and brought me the TM he found.

I placed the TM in my bag and threw the pokéball into the air. A Lillipup came out of it. "Let's find your owner." I picked up the pokéball and the Lillipup and exited the cave. On Route 3, I ran into Bianca and a little girl.

"Pup-pup!" cried the girl. The Lillipup jumped out of my arms and ran to the girl, licking her face. I handed the little girl her pokéball.

"Ace, you saved her pokémon from team plasma! You're amazing!" Bianca hugged me and then grinned. "I'm going to take the little girl back. Bye Ace!"

I used my last two pokéballs to catch a male Roggenrola and a female Woobat in the cave which Umbreon and I took to the pc in Striaton. I also bought more pokéballs while I was there. I then returned back to Route 3. I leveled all of my pokémon to level twenty by battling two schoolboys, two schoolgirls, and quite a bit of Audinos.

I then continued into Nacrene City. It was quite a sight, but I had seen bigger cities in my past travels. "It is something, isn't it?" I looked down at Umbreon with a smile.

He looked back up at me and nodded. "It's a nice little city. Most of the cities are too crowded for me, but this one is nice. Striaton was a little too small to be called a city, but too big to be called a town."

I nodded when I heard a laugh from behind me. I turned around to see Amelia. "Ace, come on! Everyone is meeting at the café! It's where Aidan works." I grinned as she led me northwest, past the museum. I saw Bianca and Cheren sitting at an outside table, to which I was led. Amelia pulled another chair up to the table for me and sat in her chair. I sat on her right, with Bianca on my right and Cheren on Amelia's left.

I heard the café door open and saw an extremely recognizable Aidan. He strode over to the table and placed a hand on Amelia's right shoulder. "Hey sis, Bianca, Cheren." He looked at me and grinned, holding out his hand. "Aceline, was it? It's a pleasure to meet you, cousin."

I laughed and shook his hand. "A pleasure to you as well."

Umbreon sat at my feet and eyed Aidan warily. "Master. I can smell N. He's in Nacrene." I looked and Umbreon and gave a solid nod.

"What time is it?" I looked at my wrist and groaned, realizing that my watch was at home.

Aidan looked at his watch. "It's around eight o' clock. Why?"

I stood up. "There are a few things I need to take care of. I'll come back for lunch."

Cheren stood up. "Ace, wait." He walked over to me and opened his bag, getting out a small plastic bag. "Here are some Chesto berries. I would like you to have them."

I smiled and took them, placing them in my own bag. "Thank you, Cheren." I walked off of the wooden deck and headed west to the outermost part of Pinwheel Forest. While I was there, I avoided trainers and settled for catching pokémon instead. I caught a Sawk for my party and Throh, Timburr, and Tympole went to my pc.

As I entered Nacrene once more, I looked at Umbreon. "Where is he?"

Umbreon lifted his head and sniffed the air. "The museum." I nodded and headed in that direction. As I neared the museum entrance, N was exiting.

I froze in my tracks. "N."

He looked at me and I realized that his eyes didn't match his hair and that they were instead a blue-grey. "I... want to see things no one can see. The truths of Pokémon inside Pokéballs. The ideals of how Trainers should be. And a future where Pokémon have become perfect... Do you feel the same?" His look was almost sad and it tugged at my heart as if he was a child. I nodded slowly and his eyes lit up. "That so? I think my friends and I should test you to see if you can see this future, too."

He tossed up a pokéball, releasing a Pidove. "Come on out my friend!"

I nodded and grabbed one of my pokéballs as well. "Go, Sawk!"

N adjusted his baseball cap. "Use gust."

"Use double kick!" I cried, knowing that N's Pidove was much quicker than my newly acquired pokémon. Sawk made a grunting noise and rushed at the bird, kicking it hard before it could listen to N. He kicked it a second time, and being super-effective, knocked Pidove unconscious.

I grinned. "Great job Sawk!" The blue pokémon looked back at me and smiled. I laughed. "Come back, Sawk." I withdrew Sawk as N sent out his next pokémon, a Tympole. I smirked. "Let's go, Blitzle!" He came out of his ball and reared.

"Let's go, Master!" cried Blitzle.

I grinned. "Alright, Blitzle, use shockwave!" Blitzle raised his head and his mane glowed yellow before electricity flowed to the water pokémon in waves. It was also a one-hit knock-out.

N frowned at me. "You're strong." He withdrew the fainted pokémon and his next one was a Timburr.

I nodded. "Come back Blitzle. Let's finish this, Munna!" I withdrew Blitzle and sent out my Munna because Psychic was super-effective against fighting. "Munna, use psywave and follow up with psybeam."

N's mouth twitched. "Dodge and use tackle!" Timburr wasn't quick enough to dodge Munna's attack. Timburr used tackle and Munna retaliated with psybeam, knocking out N's last pokémon. "I cannot see the future yet... The world is still to be determined..."

I shook my head and withdrew Munna. "Nobody can, and that's normal."

He walked up to me until his breath was against my hair. "Right now, my friends aren't strong enough to save all Pokémon. Maybe I can't solve the equation that will change the world. So, I need power... Power enough to make anyone agree with me." He took a deep breath and lifted my chin so that I was looking directly into his eyes. "Now I know what power I need. Zekrom! The legendary pokémon that, along with the hero, created the Unova region. It's my turn to become that hero-and you and I will be friends!" He let go of my chin and began to walk away.

I shook my head and grabbed his arm. "We can both understand pokémon in a way no one else can. We're both… different. So aren't we already friends?"

N froze and looked at me, startled. "Are you saying that you _want_ to be a friend of mine?" I nodded and he looked away again, pulling his arm out of my grip. "So be it." He then left out of my sight.

I sighed and entered the museum to see the skeleton of a Dragonite as the main exhibit. I walked up to it and snorted. "How a Dragonite skeleton is in Unova is quite amazing, isn't it?" The only response from Umbreon I got was a pawing at my calf, which usually meant that someone was approaching me.

"I'm surprised that you recognized the pokémon skeleton. Are you into archeology?"

I looked at the man that had spoken to me and shook my head. "No, I've been to Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Orre, and now I'm back here."

"You must be Aceline, the singer and national champion, am I correct?"

I nodded. "That would be me."

The man cleared his throat and held out his hand. "Well, let me formally introduce myself. I'm the co-director, Hawes."

I shook his hand. "Well, where would the gym be?"

He grinned. "I can show you, but may I interest you in a tour first?" When I nodded, he turned to the Dragonite skeleton. "This skeleton is of a Dragon-type Pokémon. There's a theory that it had an accident while it was flying around the world, and so it became a Fossil." He then lead me to another exhibit. "This rock is amazing! It's a meteorite! It contains some kind of energy from space."

I saw a shiny white stone close by and walked up to it, Umbreon at my heels. "What's this?"

Hawes joined me. "Oh, this? It's an ordinary old stone. It was found near the desert, but other than the fact that it's old, it doesn't seem to have any value... We only display it because it's rather pretty to look at." He then walked me up the staircase near the back and pointed to the double doors. "The Pokémon Gym is just beyond here. At the end of the Gym, a very strong and kind Gym Leader is waiting. By the way, the Gym Leader Lenora happens to be my wife!"

I laughed and walked through the double doors, to see Clyde. He gave me some fresh water and I made sure to keep Sawk at the front of my party. As I continued further, I was challenged by a boy with a Patrat. After I beat him and was rewarded, I went to the bottom-left bookshelf and picked up a book there entitled "Nice to Meet You, Pokémon!"

Inside of the book was a clue from Lenora, asking me what the first Pokémon I fought in the gym was and that I should go to the middle row. I followed the clue to the middle row where I found a book titled "The Biology of Patrat."

The next clue described a fiery thing with smoke all around it, and hinted that someone was reading it. I noticed the scientist that was reading a book and went up to her. She challenged me to a battle with her Herdier and wasn't too hard to beat. After I beat her, she handed me a book, in which I found another clue.

I decided to skip the clue, knowing that if I battled the other girl in the library, that she would tell me where Lenora was. Her Lillipup was easily beaten by Sawk and after pushing a switch on the bookcase, it moved to reveal a secret staircase. Umbreon and I shared a look before descending into the basement.

When Lenora saw me, she beamed. "Now, I know who you are, Aceline."

I smiled. "Well that quickens the introductions, huh Lenora?"

She nodded. "Indeed it does. Now, let me research how you've raised your pokémon!" She threw a pokéball into the air. "Go, Herdier!

I smirked. "Let's do this, Sawk!"

Sawk punched the ground. "I'll win this for you."

"Use work up, Herdier!"

"Ignore it's status change and use double kick, Sawk!"

As Sawk charged at Herdier, Lenora smirked. "Counter with bite!" Sawk kicked Herdier in the face as Herdier went to bite him. After the second kick, Herdier was in critical condition.

"Good job, Sawk!"

Lenora knelt down, calling Herdier to her. "Come on, super potion!" Herdier drank it and jumped back into the battle. "Use bite!"

"Counter with karate chop!" Herdier had managed to sink it's teeth into Sawk's arm, but Sawk used the other hand to karate chop Herdier off of him. "Finish it off with double kick, Sawk!"

"Dodge and use roar!" Lenora's command wasn't quick enough, because Sawk had knocked out Herdier before she finished.

Lenora nodded. "Herdier return. Go Watchog!" Since she made a move returning and sending out another pokémon, it gave me the advantage.

"Use double kick!"

"Use super fang, Watchog!"

As the pokémon charged at each other, I smirked. "Counter with another double kick, Sawk!"

Lenora frowned. "Dod-" Watchog was knocked out, quickly. She sighed, returning Watchog. She then looked up at me and grinned. "The way you battle, it's enchanting, it's charming. Please accept the Basic badge."

I grinned as I took the badge and placed it in my case. "Thank you."

Lenora shook her head. "No, thank you for the amazing battle. I want you to have something else as well, this TM. It's retaliate. I'm sure you know about it."

I nodded as Hawes stampeded down the stairs. "Deeear! Dear! Come quickly! Team Plasma is threatening to steal some bones!"

Lenora looked at him, shocked. "What? What's going on?!" She looked at me, frantically. "Ace, you come too!" She then ran up the stairs with Hawes.

"Master, let's go!"

I nodded. "Yes, let us, Umbreon." Umbreon and I dashed into the museum to see nothing except smoke.

"Now, you wait! Enough fooling around! What's going on?" Lenora's voice echoed through the museum and I knew that team plasma had stolen something.

"Umbreon, I can't see!" I coughed and covered my mouth when I felt someone grab my arm and drag me. "Umbreon, can you see me?"

Umbreon sneezed. "I'm right behind you, Master." I was led outside the museum and I looked at the person who had led me out and it turned out to be Cheren.

I smiled at him and coughed again. "Thank you, Cheren."

He nodded. "Lenora ran off to search the city. Bianca, Amelia, Aidan and I are staying here to protect the museum."

"And you're coming to search pinwheel forest with me." I turned to see the man that had spoken. "I'm Burgh, the gym leader of Castelia city."

I nodded. "Well it's nice to meet you. I'm Aceline and this is my trusted partner, Umbreon."

"Let's start in Pinwheel forest, that's really the only way they could have gone. Can you check the outer forest and then meet me inside?" Burgh didn't wait for me to respond and left to the forest.

I looked back at Cheren, who nodded his head and went inside the museum. "It's up to us, Master." Umbreon looked back to Cheren as well.

I nodded. "I know how to make the search faster, come on out, Blitzle!" I threw Blitzle's pokéball into the air and released him out of it. Umbreon then grabbed the now shrunken pokéball and gave it to me. I placed it back on my belt with the other pokéballs and looked at Blitzle. "Umbreon, Blitzle is much faster than I am at running, can you keep up?"

As I got on Blitzle's back, Umbreon snorted. "Don't underestimate me, Master."

I grinned. "You ready guys?"

Blitzle reared. "Let's go!" He then bolted, sparks flying from under his hooves as the three of us raced through the outer pinwheel forest. I used a repel to keep away the wild pokémon, but I couldn't avoid the six trainers. After the three of us had searched the outer forest, we entered the forest.

As said, Burgh was waiting for me. I smiled as Blitzle slowed down near him. Blitzle was a little too small to ride, but since I was petite, he didn't mind carrying me. "I'm guessing that you didn't find them?"

Blitzle snorted. "I would have shown them a thing or two."

I shook my head. "No, we didn't, but I can find the skull in no time at all."

Burgh nodded. "I'll head the straight path and if I don't run into them, I'll block them off. You head through the forest."

I nodded and got off of Blitzle. "Blitzle, return." I returned him to his pokéball and looked at Umbreon. "You ready?"

Umbreon nodded. "Let's go, Master."

We started walking until we were spotted by a pair of twin girls that wanted to battle. I had a double battle with them and their level sixteen Sewaddles. After them, I ran into a team plasma grunt with his level sixteen Sandile. I continued on, only to battle a pokémon ranger, who gave me another Chesto berry, with a level eighteen Herdier and another grunt with her level sixteen Purrloin. I continued on, battling a youngster with his level sixteen Venipede and Timburr.

I managed to catch more pokémon including the three elemental pokémon that Amelia, Cheren, and Bianca had. I caught a Petilil, a Cottonee, a Venipede, and a Sewaddle. I continued walking until I saw a hollow log that I would have to walk through. "Master, a person is hiding." Umbreon motioned his head to a bush near the log. I nodded and continued on, and sure enough, there was a female ranger that ambushed me. I battled her and her level eighteen Panpour. After I beat her, she gave me a Pecha berry.

As I continued on further, I ran into a Grunt with a level 16 Patrat, another Ranger with a level 18 Pansear, and the final Grunt that had a level fourteen Patrat and a level fourteen Sandile. He glared at me harshly once he was defeated. "Don't you understand the cause we fight for?! We'll free pokémon from those who don't deserve them!"

I crossed my arms and glared back at him. "You _steal_ other people's pokémon for your own uses! You are the ones who don't deserve pokémon!" Umbreon jumped in front of me and growled at the grunt, advancing towards him.

The grunt ran off, dropping the skull as he did so. When I went to pick it up however, I was interrupted. "You have constantly gotten in our way, but you will get in our way no longer." I whipped around to see an elderly man that dressed similar to Ghetsis. "I am Gorm. I am one of Team Plasma's Seven Sages."

Umbreon was once again in front of me, protecting me. "Master, we can take him!"

I nodded. "Bring it on, plasma sleaze."

Burgh rushed to my side. "You picking on a child?"

I rolled my eyes. "I am _not_ a child, Burgh."

Gorm glared at us. "We shall retreat for now, just know that this isn't the last time we meet if you continue to get in our way." The two then fled from the scene.

Burgh groaned in annoyance. "Darn, I thought we had them trapped. No matter though, is that what they stole?" He pointed to the Dragonite skull and I nodded. He cleared his throat and attempted to pick it up himself, grunting when it was too heavy for him to lift.

I laughed and tossed a pokéball into the air. "Come on out Sawk!" Sawk, being the silent type, looked once between me and the skull before lifting it with ease. He then looked back at me for guidance. "Come on Sawk." I led him and Burgh back out of Pinwheel forest where Lenora was waiting for us.

"You retrieved the skull for me! I owe you one, Ace." She held out her arms to Sawk, who returned the skull to her. I held out Sawk's pokéball, returning him in a bright flash of red light.

Burgh gave me a pat on the back. "I congratulate you and I hope to see you at my gym in Castelia City."

I nodded and grinned at him. "You bet I'll see you." Both he and Lenora both walked their separate ways back to their own gyms. I sighed and leaned against the fence that was on each side of the path leading from Nacrene to Pinwheel forest. "Well, it's almost lunch time, so what do you want to do, Umbreon?"

Umbreon sat at my feet. "Lunch sounds good. Then I say we should explore Pinwheel forest some more. I have the feeling that there might be some legendary pokémon there."

I raised an eyebrow. "Legendary?" Just the word _legendary_ brought back memories. I had managed to befriend all the legendary pokémon I had encountered thus far. They had even let me catch them, but I refused to keep them in pokéballs. They were mine and heeded my calls whenever I called, thus being mine, but they were still free to roam the earth. I cleared my throat and began walking back to the café, where only Amelia and Aidan were waiting for me.

"Did Bianca and Cheren ditch?" I laughed as I sat at the table.

Amelia grinned. "You could say that."

"Amelia already received the badge from Lenora this morning, shortly before you did, and then all of the chaos broke out. So Cheren and Bianca decided to test themselves." Aidan cleared his throat and stood up, handing both me and Amelia menus. "What can I do for you today?"

Amelia smiled. "You already know my favorite meal, Aidan."

"Ah, indeed I do, but what do you wish to drink?"

Amelia couldn't help but laugh, causing me to smile. "Well, I hear that your lemonade is absolutely fantastic."

Aidan nodded and turned to me. "And what would you like, Aceline?"

I bit my lip and scrolled through the menu. "I'll take the lunch party special and some lemonade please."

Aidan's eyes widened. "What? With the pokémon food and all? Who are you feeding, your whole family?"

I laughed. "Pokémon food and all. I'm traveling so I make sure to have leftovers and Umbreon refuses to eat pokémon food." I shot a smile at Umbreon, who growled and cowered in embarrassment. Aidan nodded and hurried off to get our orders.

"So where are you heading after this, Ace?"

I shrugged. "I'll probably continue on to Castelia and then on to Nimbasa and so on and so forth."

Umbreon stretched. "We should find out where that team plasma's hideout is and trash 'em like we did team rocket." I laughed aloud to Umbreon's statement, earning a raised eyebrow from Amelia.

"If you go to Castelia, they have their famous Castelia Cones selling until two nights from now, since that's officially when winter starts." Aidan returned with a platter of drinks in one hand and a large bag of pokémon food in the other hand.

I grinned and tossed my pokéballs into the air. "Come on out guys! Time for some food!" I was handed bowls by Aidan as he worked on setting all of our food on our table. He didn't seem to mind the fact that I had bought way too much food for myself, but rather enjoyed serving us. I poured some pokémon food into different bowls and served my companions. Umbreon naturally got the first bite of whatever I had been served. I wasn't exactly sure what everything on the party platter was, but everything smelled so amazing and delicious, that it made me excited to eat.

"Master, this is really delicious, you should try some." Umbreon continued to gobble down the food I had placed in his bowl. I began eating, flavors of all kinds exploding in my mouth. Amelia laughed as I greedily stuffed food into my hungry mouth. I had enough lemonade to wash down every bite I took, which was just as delicious as the food.

Soon enough I had enough food in my stomach that I boxed everything else, placing it in my bag. I withdrew my pokémon into their pokéballs and placed some money plus the tip on the table. "Well Amelia, I'll be taking my leave then, I left the money on the table."

Amelia frowned. "Leaving already?"

I nodded and looked down to Umbreon, my trusted partner. "Yeah, Umbreon and I have the next city to conquer as well as another gym." I hugged Amelia and smiled. "I'm _sure_ I'll run into you again." I then waved as Umbreon and I went back through Pinwheel forest. This time however, we decided to take the straight path, running into many more trainers than on the long trail.

Umbreon stopped in the middle of the path. "In the grass, to our right, go Master!" I nodded and ran into the grass, coming up upon a wild Snivy. I grinned and tossed up Lillipup's pokéball.

"Lillipup, use tackle!" Lillipup charged at the wild pokémon, but was quickly caught up in Snivy's vine whip. Snivy's vines wrapped around Lillipup's waist and threw him into the air.

Lillipup landed badly and rolled and I knew that this Snivy was probably a higher level than Lillipup. "Try tackle again then try bite, Lillipup." Lillipup got back to his feet as the Snivy danced around tauntingly. Lillipup once again charged at Snivy, but while Snivy's back was turned. Lillipup slammed harshly into Snivy, knocking the pokémon over. The startled Snivy blindly attempted to use his vine whip, but Lillipup wouldn't have it and bit Snivy hard.

I smirked and took out a pokéball. "Step away from Snivy, Lillipup!" Lillipup listened and my pokéball flew from my hand and landed in front of the weak pokémon. Snivy was too weak to fight back and made it easier to catch him. Once the pokéball stopped moving, Umbreon took the shrunken ball into his mouth and darted off into the direction of the pokémon center to place my newly caught Snivy into the p.c.

"Great job Lillipup!" I knelt down in front of him and he trotted over to me proudly.

"Did ya see that? He didn't have a chance against us!" Lillipup danced around in a circle before a glowing light began to consume him. I laughed and stood up again, taking a step back. The light swirled around Lillipup and I could see his shape beginning to change form. I took out my demo pokédex as the light around Lillipup dimmed out. He had evolved into a Herdier, the same pokémon that Lenora had.

Placing my pokédex away, I grinned at Herdier. "Are you happy that you evolved?"

He nodded briskly. "Of course I am." His voice had gotten deeper with his evolution, but I smiled anyway. I held out his pokéball and he returned in a red flash of light. I returned the ball to my belt as Umbreon returned to my side.

"Was there anything I missed master?" Umbreon looked around the grass, making sure there weren't any pokémon close to ambushing us.

I nodded. "Yeah, Lillipup evolved into a Herdier."

Umbreon shrugged. "Eh, we've seen enough evolutions, they aren't that big of a deal anymore."

I laughed. "Well, they still make me smile and isn't that all that matters?" Umbreon nodded in agreement as we got back on the path. We continued until we reached the man-made tunnel. As we passed through it, the security guards seemed to be uneasy. Umbreon noticed it as well and pawed my leg. I simply nodded, letting him know that I understood their uneasiness as well as he did. It was probably because team plasma had passed through, escaping from Burgh and I. As Umbreon and I exited, I had to cover my eyes from the harsh afternoon sunlight. When I was able to open my eyes, I gasped in complete awe. In front of us was the longest metal bridge we had ever seen. My eyes widened as I glanced at the sign in front of the bridge. It was called Skyarrow bridge and I could see why as I walked up the spiral incline to the main part of the bridge.

The bridge towered over the water and boats that passed under it, although boats didn't just pass under the bridge, cargo ships did as well. I swallowed and gripped the railing. "I _hate_ heights." I flinched as a gust of wind blew past me.

Umbreon chuckled. "Master, you're perfectly safe, nothing's going to happen."

I squeezed my eyes shut tightly and shook my head violently. "You don't understand. I don't trust man-made heights!"

A hand was placed on my shoulder. "Would it help if I accompanied you?" My eyes flew open and I whipped around to stare into blue-grey eyes. A gasp escaped my lips and for some reason, I felt my heartbeat speed up and my stomach was full of butterflies. N's hand was still on my shoulder and that alone was enough to flush my cheeks into a bright shade of red. His hand slid down my arm in a slow, relaxing manner until his hand held mine.

I simply stood there stupidly as he smiled at me. "I-uh-yeah."

N chuckled and walked on my left as Umbreon walked on my right, glaring at N. "So, tell me a little bit about yourself, Ace."

I swallowed, wondering if N could feel my pulse racing. "Well, I was born here in Unova, but at the age of ten I moved to the Kanto region to start my journey, where I discovered my talents of talking to pokémon and singing. From there I traveled to Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Orre, and now I'm here." I smiled to myself, reminiscing. "I've befriended all kinds of pokémon and fought off so many villains in just six small years."

N lightly squeezed my hand and smiled. "Well, I hope you are as honest and kind as you are interesting. Until next time." He then let go of my hand and disappeared from my sight.

I looked around, we had reached the other side of the bridge. "Umbreon?"

"Yes, Master?"

I looked down at my companion. "Did he seriously lead me across the bridge that quickly without me knowing?"

Umbreon nodded. "Well for a minute or so you were staring into his eyes as if you were in a trance. I thought he had done something to you, but it just so turns out that you only have a crush on the guy." Umbreon snickered.

My face flushed again. "I do not!" Umbreon darted into the tunnel and I followed him. On the other side was Castelia, one of the biggest cities I had ever seen in my entire lifetime. "Umbreon, I think that we'll need a map to get through this place."


	4. Chapter 4: Too Big to Be Alone

Bubblykunzyz: I have once again returned with an update! I'm happy to say that the holidays are coming up and I will be out of college classes and will write ALL the time when I am not working XD Sooooo this started off being exactly like the game and is now becoming a little more of it's own thing. I will keep to the base storyline, but a lot of unexpected events that didn't happen in the game will happen. Anyway I don't own pokemon and enjoy the chapter! I apologize if its too much DX

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Chapter Four: Too Big To Be Alone

Castelia City was huge, to say in the least, large skyscrapers everywhere you looked. I swallowed. "Well Umbreon, we might as well start exploring." Umbreon nodded and we began our excursion by walking south onto the pier. The pier overlooked the water and you could spot Skyarrow bridge. A scientist was pacing, looking at three different stones in his hands.

I walked up to him. "Excuse me sir, do you need any help?"

He whirled around to face me and his eyes lit up. "You're a pokémon trainer aren't you?" I nodded and he continued gleefully. "You see, I have these three evolutionary stones and I no longer need them. Would you care to take them off of my hands?" He held them out to me and I smiled, taking them. There were the three basic type evolution stones: fire, water, and grass. I then continued to explore. I headed back from the pier and made a left, going down to the next pier. Docked at that pier was the large ship called the Royal Unova and it was in preparation for trainers. I then decided to head north into the first street. There was a building on the left that I entered out of curiosity.

"I smell oil." Umbreon laid his ears back and shivered as I noticed a woman had a pokémon massage stand inside.

I giggled and approached the stand. "Do you give pokémon massages?"

She looked up at me and nodded. "Yes, and they are completely free. Which pokémon would you like me to massage today?" I grinned down at Umbreon and he nodded, hopping gracefully onto the table. He purred as the woman massaged him and when she was done, he hopped off of the table.

"Thank you." I walked out with Umbreon, heading back down the way we had come. We then headed left again and passed the pokémon center. We went down the next pier, and seeing nothing there, we went up the street across from it. There was a building called Studio Castelia which I assumed was Burgh's art gallery. Across from the studio was a stand selling Castelia Cones. I was surprised to see no one in line and walked up to the stand.

The woman behind the stand smiled at me. "Would you like a cone dear?"

I nodded and smiled as someone walked up beside me. "Make that two please." Amelia giggled. "Isn't Castelia City wonderful?"

"It's huge, I'll give it that. Luckily I haven't gotten lost yet." The woman handed us our cones and, after thanking her, we went went down to the fourth pier to eat them.

"After I complete this badge, I think I'm going to head back home and visit my mother for a little bit. She's not used to being in the house alone. I told Aidan to visit her as well." Amelia's Snivy hugged her leg and made a cute cry-like noise, causing her to give him a bite of her cone.

I finished most of mine and gave the rest to Umbreon. "That's nice of you. I think I'll continue on. I'll stay the night here, as it seems the sun is already setting."

Amelia began to walk away, towards the gym, I assumed. "Well I'll be seeing you. Let's go Snivy!" She then ran off and I sighed , exiting the pier myself. I headed up the street across from it, passing a dumpster.

"Master!" Umbreon walked behind the dumpster and came back with a TM. "It's Flash."

I took it and placed it in the HM/TM section of my bag. "Thank you Umbreon." We continued on into the nearby café. A guitarist was playing music and I decided that we needed to explore the rest of the city before finding a place to bunk down for the night. I went back to the last pier, silently wishing I had my bicycle with me. There wasn't anything on the pier, and the only interesting thing on the last street was the pokémon gym. At the end of all the streets was Castelia Park, with a fountain in the center.

"Well Umbreon. I'm beat. Are you ready to eat some leftover's for dinner and call it a night?" At Umbreon's nod, we headed to the pokémon center. "Excuse me, is there a room I can stay in for the night?" The nurse led me to a back room where I was allowed to release all my pokémon. There was a single bed in the corner. I took out the leftovers and after we feasted, not even finishing off what we had, we all fell asleep with full stomachs.

Unlike my pokémon though, that night's sleep wasn't restful. I tossed and turned, with visions of N and two pokémon, two dragon-type pokémon I had never seen before.

I woke up with a start, only to realize I had in fact slept through the night. The fact that I was tired annoyed me as I returned my pokémon to their pokéballs. Umbreon and I didn't really talk as we ate breakfast and then headed to the gym. I was surprised that, as I neared the gym, I saw Burgh run out and speed past me.

With an annoyed sigh, I began following at a walk when set of familiar white uniforms ran in the other direction. I whipped around to see them dash into the building across from the gym. "Umbreon."

He nodded. "Burgh can hold his own. Let's go."

We ran to the entrance and I glared as I kicked the door down, to reveal team plasma goons, two sages and Ghetsis himself. "I thought I smelled rats," I hissed, glaring at Ghetsis.

He grinned and stepped forward. "I have heard much about you from a number of sources. I have also heard about your…talent." Umbreon growled, protectively jumping in front of me. Ghetsis looked down at him for a minute. "Now I am able to see the bond between you and your beloved Umbreon.

I snorted. "The bond between me and my pokémon is something so unbreakable that none can compare. I've squashed Team Rocket, Team Magma, Team Aqua, Team Galactic, Cipher, and now it's Team Plasma's turn. I've purified pokémon that had their hearts closed in order to be used as machines! You claim to be for the good of pokémon, but you are so wrong. I can hear the cries of the pokémon your team uses. They don't like fighting for such a cause! Pokémon like being with people and trainers. I've met pokémon in the care of children, who battle as game and have no clue what they're doing. Those pokémon are a thousand times happier than any pokémon that merely hears the name of Team Plasma."

"Give Bianca's Munna back!" The voice came from a girl whom I was unfamiliar with.

I stepped towards Ghetsis. "You steal pokémon just like team rocket. I thought _they_ were idiots. You, however, are so much worse. You are villains hiding behind a good façade. At least Team Rocket was honest."

Instead of being angry, Ghetsis laughed. "We shall let you all enjoy what time you have with your precious pokémon. For soon, they will all be freed from humans forever!" He motioned to one of the goons, who shooed the Munna to Bianca. "We will meet again soon, Aceline Ketchum." A smokescreen blasted and left us all coughing as Team Plasma escaped.

Once it cleared, I was kneeling, still coughing harshly. "I hate those things," I muttered as Burgh held out his hand to help me up. I stood to my feet and saw Umbreon laying down, coughing worse than me. "Umbreon!" I scooped him up in my arms and rushed out of the building. I had to find a pokémon center and fast. The tears welled in my eyes; I knew that he had problems with smoke. I ran on my instinct. "Hang in there Umbreon!"

I burst through the pokémon center door, coughing. "Umbreon. Help him!" My vision had grown foggy from the tears, but nurse Joy took Umbreon and rushed him to the back. I collapsed to the floor, having coughing spasms.

I was helped to my feet and set in a chair. "Aceline, are you alright?" The voice was sweet and familiar, but it didn't help me.

The tears exploded from my eyes. "I have asthma, but smoke can kill Umbreon, since he refuses a pokéball. I knew that Team Plasma was going to use smoke screens, but I still didn't get Umbreon out of it quick enough. I let him get hurt, I don't deserve him, or any of my pokémon!" I felt the pokéballs on my belt shake violently before opening. I wiped my eyes and sniffled as they stared at me. I finally looked to the person who had helped me into the chair to stare into familiar blue-grey eyes. "N?" I mumbled feebly.

He stared at me before looking to my pokémon. "They believe in you and love you."

I looked to my friends and they all nodded. "We love you, Mommy." Zorua was the one that spoke up for the rest of my pokémon.

I bit my lip. "I love you guys too." I stood up, taking deep breaths and N stood up next to me, seemingly weary of me collapsing. I looked at him and smiled. "Thank you, N." He looked shocked and I laughed, lightly coughing as well. "I want to thank you for the bridge and for picking back up my spirits." I wiped my eyes dry and walked closer to him. "No one has been kind to me for just me. You have been genuinely kind to me and you care deeply about pokémon. Thank you, N." I wrapped my arms around him and rested my head on his chest for a moment, letting the hug register in his mind. All the muscles in his body tensed and I knew he was shocked and maybe even afraid so I let go.

"Ace?" Nurse Joy smiled from behind the counter. "Umbreon will be just fine, though he stood be left to sleep here for another hour or so."

I faced her with a sigh of relief and withdrew all my pokémon into their pokéballs. "I'll wait here for him to wake up." When I turned back to N, he was gone. I darted out of the pokémon center and pushed through the crowd of people onto the pier, where more than one familiar face was present.

Burgh approached me as Juniper was talking to Bianca while I saw my mother get off of a ship, followed by Professor Oak and my little brother, Ash. I hadn't seen him or my mother since I had been in Kanto, which was about five years.

Burgh cleared his throat and everyone's attention turned to us. "Aceline. I would like to commemorate you with this gym badge."

I gasped and shook my head. "No, I can't take it, I haven't beaten you in a pokémon battle!"

Burgh smiled and shook his head. "I saw you battle in the woods and the way you stood up to Team Plasma let me know that you would have beaten me in battle and it would have been fun. You also took care of your pokémon before worrying about yourself. That is something that is worthy of this gym badge."

I swallowed and nodded. "Thank you, Burgh." I took the badge, placing it in my badge case.

Bianca hurried up to me and threw her arms around my neck. "I got my Munna back because of you! I need to thank you!"

"Well, it seems that we arrived into chaos." Professor Oak straightened up.

Juniper smiled. "Yes, but Aceline continues to awe and inspire us."

I looked to Ash, noticing that he had grown taller, and looked more like an adult than I had ever pictured. "You've grown up little twin brother."

He shrugged with a smile as his Pikachu waved from his shoulder. "Though I'm behind you as usual." He grinned widely. "Are you ready to battle and see who's stronger? Umbreon against Pikachu."

I flinched and turned away from him. "Not today, Ash."

"What's happened?" My mother chimed in, worriedly.

Burgh cleared his throat. "I'll explain everything. Aceline, go check on Umbreon." I listened to him with a nod and ran back to the pokémon center.

When I got there, I was about to head to the room Umbreon was in, when he leapt over the counter, landing in front of me. "Master."

I fell to my knees and scooped him into a hug. "Umbreon, I'm so glad that you're okay!" When I pulled away and stood up, I looked at him fiercely. "We need to finish Team Plasma."

He nodded, the same fierce look on his face. "Yes." He walked next to me as we exited the pokémon center and walked onto the pier, where everyone was still waiting.

"Listen, I'm on a journey and it seems that Team Plasma is trying to end that. I refuse to let that happen. Umbreon and I are going to take down Team Plasma!" Umbreon cried in fierce delight to agree with me.

"Aceline!" My mother rushed up to me and hugged me. "You're only a child, what can you do?"

I pushed her off of me. "Exactly what I did to Team Rocket, Team Aqua, Team Magma, Team Galactic and Cipher. I beat them bit by bit and tear their spirits apart and I am not a child anymore, Mom."

She sighed. "I do see you and Ash all over the news." A smile then crossed her face. "Ash is on vacation with Professor Oak and I." Ash looked around as Pidove flew overhead and he stood there in awe.

I rolled my eyes as my Xtransceiver rang. I answered it to see Elesa, a renowned model in the Unova region. "Hey Elesa, it's been a while."

She smiled. "Yes it has been. Now I have set up a concert here for you in a few hours, since a little bird told me you happened to be in Castelia City."

I nodded with a sigh. "I was attempting to keep a low profile here, but that's nearly impossible with Team Plasma lurking about."

"Well I have another shoot, but I look forward to seeing you soon, Aceline." The Xtransceiver shut off as she hung up.

My mother sighed. "Well it looks like you have a lot to go do. Be safe, Aceline, I mean it." I nodded and waved once as I walked to the gate beyond Castelia. Umbreon walked right next to me, looking straight ahead. I wasn't exactly looking forward to the concert, even though I know I would enjoy it.

As we passed through the desert, along the given path, trainers didn't even bother to talk to me. "Umbreon, is something wrong with me? No trainers are bothering me for battle."

Umbreon looked around for a moment when we reached the gate that led into Nimbasa City. "Elesa doesn't waste her time does she?"

My gaze followed Umbreon's to a large poster. It was a picture of me and Umbreon with my name and the concert time. "Oh no, not already." With a whine of displeasure mixed with Umbreon's laughter, we continued into Nimbasa, where Elesa was waiting for me, surrounded by tons of fans.

"Make a path!" Her voice managed to rise above the growing crowd and the crowd did as she asked, making a path from her to me. She smiled as she walked up to me. She was tall, which made sense since she was a model. "Ace, it has been too long." She embraced me in a light hug.

I hugged her back. "Yes it has been. So why exactly did you set up a concert for me?"

She pulled away and laughed as she began to lead me to the park. "You are talented, Aceline, and should show off those talents. So what will happen is you are going to choose your five songs, and your outfit. My crew will do your hair and make-up and I will introduce you. I had you hurry in case it takes a while for you to get ready." She lead me into a building next to the Ferris Wheel. "This is my gym, but it is being converted into a runway and stage for your concert." We continued to a back room. "This is where you will be getting ready. My crew will be here in a minute and I will be back to see what songs you chose." She then turned and left me and Umbreon in the room.

It was like any other diva room, complete with a vanity station, mirrors and lots of colorful outfits hung on a rolling outfit station. "Umbreon, I think I'm going to be sick." I knelt on the ground, breathing heavily. There was also a tube-like machine in the corner.

He licked my cheek, concerned. "What's wrong, Master?"

"I haven't sang in months. What if I mess up? This will be on TV, and I'm sure he'll see it." I swallowed the lump in my throat.

"What do you mean 'he'?" His eyes widened. "I knew it!"

I shook my head. "Not now, Umbreon. Please."

Umbreon rubbed up against me. "Listen, do what you have always done, Master. Sing with your heart. Don't worry about impressing him. You never give up! Just see it this way, Team Plasma already knows that you are determined, and just imagine how much more you will threaten their plans if you have all of Unova in love with you! Team Plasma wants to manipulate people, but to do that they have to win them over. They can't win them over if you have already done it."

I smiled. "You're right, Umbreon, thank you." I hugged him and then stood up as seven girls came into the room. Each had a a different color for hair and eyes, but other than that they looked the same. They all wore a white tee shirt and jean shorts, were skinny and tall like Elesa and had thick wavy hair that hung to their mid-backs.

The red haired one cleared her throat. "Hello, we are here to help you get ready. We are sextuplets. I'm Ruby."

"I'm Coral." She flipped her orange hair over her shoulder.

The yellow haired one giggled. "I'm Amber."

"Call me Jade." She spoke as she ran a brush through her green hair.

"I'm Sapphire." She seemed shy, hiding behind her blue hair and her purple haired sister.

"You can call me Violet." She then stepped out from in front of Sapphire.

I smiled. "It's very nice to meet all of you."

Ruby stepped forward. "Now have you thought of an outfit?"

I nodded. "Yes, I would like everything to be in black and metallic leather. I would like a tube top that reveals my stomach, skin tight mini skirt, elbow-length, half fingered gloves, and knee high black platform heels that are around five inches high." Umbreon rolled his eyes and yawned, curling up on the floor to take a nap before the concert.

Ruby nodded. "I will get right on that, I will need your measurements though, so come with me." She led me to the tube and opened the door on it. "Step in here and stand up straight with your arms at your sides." I did as I was told and when I was in there, a blue light showered around me and then there was a loud beep and Ruby opened the door again. "Alright it has scanned. Sapphire, Violet, take the measurements and go make her outfit." She handed papers to the girls who quickly left the room.

I stepped out of the tube as Elesa re-entered the room. "Have you chosen your five songs yet?"

I nodded. "Of course. I will be starting with 'We Love to Party' and after that 'In Love With the Darkness', 'Listen to Your Heart', 'Every Time We Touch', and I'll finish with my new song, 'Angel With a Shotgun'."

Elesa smirked. "Good choices, have someone to impress?"

I smirked back. "More like threaten." She nodded and laughed before she left the room again.

Amber and Coral were then on each side of me, giggling. "You have such long hair! What do you want to do with it?" Amber's eyes were wide with excitement.

"We don't get the chance to play with such lovely hair often since Elesa keeps hers short," Coral chimed in.

I thought about it for a moment before I came to my conclusion. "I would like large loopy loose curls, no ringlets." They both giggled excitedly and hurried me to the vanity station, sitting me down.

"Did you want any bows or ribbons in your hair?" Coral began running a brush through my hair while Amber got out two curling irons and plugged them in.

"No, and no make-up please, I prefer to be as natural as possible." I looked at myself in the vanity mirror.

Ruby nodded. "In that case, Amber get out two more irons, and Jade come here so we can all get her hair done quicker."

As they worked on my hair, I wondered if this would all work out as well as I hoped it to. Maybe Team Plasma would realize exactly who they were dealing with. Though Ghetsis seemed to already know who I was, which made me uncomfortable. If he knew who I was, then he probably delved deeper than I would be comfortable with. He probably found out my weakness and already was ready to use it against me. I internally winced as memories flashed in my head of a time where an innocent first love turned into the first heartbreak.

_I had defeated Kanto's champion, Gary, who was also a dear friend of mine. Umbreon stood tall as the victor and I smiled. "We've done it Umbreon, we beat him."_

_ "Of course, Master! Why wouldn't we?" He walked back to me and sat at my feet as Gary approached me._

_ He smiled as he stopped in front of me. "Although you beat me, I'm happy."_

_ I nodded and stepped towards him, wrapping my arms around him. "I'm happy too." I blushed as Gary's arms wrapped around me and pulled me closer._

_ An explosion sounded and knocked us over, but Gary made sure to shield me. "Sorry to break up the party, love-birds, but your pokémon will be ours!" Through the smoke, Team Rocket's Jessie and James stepped forward with their Meowth._

_ They aimed a gun at Umbreon and shot it. Out came a net that captured Umbreon. "Master!"_

_ I got up and dived at the retracting net, that contained my beloved Umbreon. "I'll save you!"_

_ "Lookie at the pokémon whisperer, she won't win this t-" Meowth was in the middle of speaking when I whipped out my pocket knife and released Umbreon._

_ "Pokémon whisperer? What are you talking about?" Gary stood up and I froze, my eyes wide._

_ Jessie took note of the look on my face and laughed. "Oh you didn't know? I thought you would since she is your girlfriend after all."_

_ "She can talk to pokémon, and actually understand them," added James._

_ I hurried to my feet. "Shut up! Umbreon use shadow ball!"_

_ When the move blasted Team Rocket away, Gary turned away from me. "Why didn't you tell me?"_

_ I looked at the ground as the tears welled in my eyes. "I knew you would reject someone as weird as me!"_

_ He snorted. "You're right, because no one wants a freak like you for a girlfriend. We're over." He then left me standing there, crying._

"Miss Aceline, your hair is finished." Ruby smiled. "Your outfit is ready as well and you're on in ten minutes."

I blinked and nodded. "Thank you, you are dismissed." Once they left, I began to strip of my clothes.

"Master? What's wrong?" Umbreon stretched and yawned as I pulled on the tube top and mini skirt.

"I was just thinking about the Kanto championship." I sighed and pulled on my gloves and boots.

"Stop worrying Master, I'm here for you." Umbreon shook out and was instantly at my heels as we exited the room. The curtains for the stage which was raised to where the roof was, though I stared up at the evening sky.

Elesa approached me. "Alright, here is your mic." It went around my ear and cheek and resided a few inches from my mouth. She cleared her throat and led me to a door inside the stage. "Go to the center platform, it's an elevator that will raise you up to the main stage. Have fun!" She pushed me in and Umbreon was right next to me. I did as I was told and soon Umbreon and I were in the center of the stage. I could see hundreds upon hundreds of people in the crowd and there was a large screen behind me so that the people farther back could still see me.

It was dark and then lights flashed on me and the crowd roared with excitement. I grinned and waved.

"You've waited patiently in your seats, but I now introduce you to Aceline Ketchum!" Elesa's voice was loud on the overhead, but the crowd enjoyed it thoroughly.

I laughed. "That's me! Are you guys ready to rock tonight?!" The crowd roared even louder and hooted. "Alright! Let's start this party!"

The music started and I sang as Umbreon jumped onto my shoulder. I danced around as the crowd fist pumped to the fast-paced song. People whistled as I strutted across the main stage with elegance and grace.

"Put your hands up now! We love to party so if you wanna, we can boom ba-doom all night, boom ba-doom all night! Whoa whoa, put your hands up cuz we love to party! So if you wanna we can boom ba-doom all night, boom ba-doom all night! Whoa whoa, put your hands up now!" As the song came to a close the crowd went wild.

The darker music of my next song started and the lights dimmed, so my silhouette was all the crowd could see. I didn't dance about, I just stood there with my eyes closed and sang my heart out. I heard a soft roar from a dragon, but since it was so soft, the crowd didn't notice it and I ignored it.

"I'm in love with the darkness of the night. I'm in love with all that's out of sight. I'm in love with the magic of the new and the darkness loves me, too. I'm in love with the darkness of the night. I'm in love with all that's out of sight. I'm in love with the magic of the new and the darkness loves me, too."

The song finished and Umbreon pawed my ankle, keeping his voice too low for anyone to hear. "N's here, front row, left side of the runway."

I nodded and walked down the stairs on the front of the stage that led to the runway. "You enjoying the show tonight?" When the crowd hooted and hollered, I laughed. "I would hope so, because I'm just getting started!" I reached the stage as my next song started and winked at N. Umbreon let out a cry and did a front flip over me as I began singing. He then landed and di a backflip to land on my shoulder.

As I strutted and twirled down the catwalk, the fans had their hands up and I met some of them with high fives, which caused a lot of the girls to squeal in joy. I then stopped in the middle of the catwalk. "Listen to your heart when he's calling for you. Listen to your heart there's nothing else you can do. I don't know where you're going and I don't know why, but listen to your heart before you tell him goodbye. Listen to your heart, ooh I don't know where you're going and I don't know why, but listen to your heart before you tell him goodbye." I struck a pose, as did Umbreon and the crowd roared with happiness and excitement.

When I glanced at N, he himself was simply smiling, and looking to Umbreon. I threw a hand into the air as the next song immediately started. I jogged back to the base of the stairs and twirled around a few times. I looked at N a lot of the time and I saw at one point he was nodding in what looked like approval.

"Your arms are my castle, your heart is my sky. They wipe away tears that I cry. Ooh.. The good and the bad times, we've been through them all. You make me rise when I fall! Cause every time we touch, I get this feeling and every time we kiss I swear I could fly. Can't you feel my heart beat fast? I want this to last, need you by my side. Cause every time we touch, I feel the static and every time we kiss, I reach for the sky! Can't you feel my heart beat so, I can't let you go. Want you in my life." At the end of the song, when I looked to N, his eyes were wide and he was staring up at the sky.

I shook my head and laughed. "Now for my last song, I introduce you to my newest song, Angel With A Shotgun! I wrote it while thinking about how much I care about my beloved partner, best friend, and pokémon, Umbreon! He has been with me through everything, and we are the strongest team out there!" The crowd cheered and I grinned. "I hope you guys think about your pokémon while I am singing too!"

The music started and as I sang, more passion in this song than any of my others, I felt the presence of something strong and big. Without stopping my singing, I looked up at the sky to see what N had been so appalled with and I saw two large clouds, one black and one white. The black one had blue swirls while the white one had red. Both N and I knew what that meant. I ran up to the main stage and continued singing, since none of the fans seemed to notice.

"I'm an angel with a shotgun, fighting til' the wars won, I don't care if heaven won't take me back! I'll throw away my faith, babe, just to keep you safe. Don't you know you're everything I have? And I, wanna live, not just survive, tonight. Ooohhh, ooohhh whoa whoa oooh whoa. I'm an angel with a shotgun fighting til' the wars won, I don't care if heaven won't take me back! I'm an angel with a shotgun, fighting til' the wars won, I don't care if heaven won't take me back! I'll throw away my faith, babe, just to keep you safe. Don't you know you're everything I have? And I, want to live, not just survive, tonight... and I'm gonna hide, hide, hide my wings tonight."

The music stopped, but I sang the last part softly as the clouds disappeared. "They say before you start a war, You better know what you're fighting for. Well baby, you are all that I adore, If love is what you need, a soldier I will be." I smiled, keeping up the façade while my mind reeled. "I hope you guys enjoyed the concert as much as I did! Have a wonderful night!" I stepped into the center, Umbreon on my shoulder and we were lowered into the stage again.

I sighed loudly. "Umbreon, you saw that too, didn't you?"

"Yes and N saw it as well." He hopped off of my shoulder as we came to a stop.

We exited and I removed my mic as Elesa grinned widely at me. "That was a _huge_ success! They loved you!"

I laughed half-heartedly. "Yes, and I enjoyed it too. Did you see the clouds during my last song?" When she shook her head and looked up at the sky, I sighed. "It's nothing, I was probably imagining it." I began to walk away when the guards trying to keep someone out distracted me.

I walked over to them to see N. "Step aside boys, he's alright." When they listened, I walked to N, Umbreon at my heels. "Did you enjoy the show?"

He chuckled. "It was my first show, but you did really well, I liked it."

I felt my face get hot. "Can we talk somewhere else?" He nodded and led me to the Ferris Wheel. "I'm sorry about hugging you before. I was just really happy."

He shook his head, his look becoming a little more serious. "It's alright." He paused, appearing as if he was trying to find the right words. "Do, you want to go on the Ferris Wheel with me?"

I nodded and as we went to enter it, the attendant held out her hand. "Pokémon are not allowed on the Ferris Wheel, I apologize." I nodded and handed her my pokéballs.

"I'll be right back, Umbreon." He sat down, while I get on with N.

Once the door closed, N patted the space next to him. I sat next to him and he looked out the window. "I love Ferris Wheels, don't you?"

I laughed. "As a kid, I was often afraid of them, because Elesa would swing it around and I was afraid to fall."

"Ah yes, you are afraid of manmade heights, aren't you?" When I nodded, he faced me and one hand held my face as my face flared into a mad blush. "You don't have to be." His voice was soft and his face grew closer to mine. My eyes closed as I felt his breath on my lips.

His lips gently pressed mine and my mind spun as his hand went from my cheek to the back of my head. When he pulled away and I opened my eyes, I got dizzy and nearly fell over, but N held me up. "I apologize, was that too much?"

I shook my head and my cheeks grew redder. "N-no."

His light expression grew darker. "You saw the clouds too didn't you?" He released me and stood up, looking out at Nimbasa. "Well, I believe it's time for me to tell you something. Your ideals and my ideals are very different, but I've only recently been doubting my ideals. It's the first that I have ever doubted them, and it's because of your pokémon and what they say."

He sat across from me and I looked at him, confused. "What do you mean?"

"I am Team Plasma's king. I want a world where those pokémon that suffer no longer suffer. I cannot have that unless all pokémon are freed." His look was serious, and I knew he couldn't be lying, but I froze, in shock and disbelief.

The Ferris Wheel stopped, and I hurried to get off, retrieving my pokémon. Two Team Plasma members saw me and prepared to battle. I glared at them and readied my own pokémon. "Bring it on!"

They froze when they saw N. "My Lord N!"

He stepped in front of them, taking a pokéball from his belt. "You're part of the people we brought in to help us save pokémon. So, you're under my protection, as well. Go, quickly, and let my battle cover your retreat." The members quickly hurried away. "Now then, Aceline, do you follow my logic?"

I nodded. "Yes." Umbreon looked at me confused.

N nodded back at me. "If true, your words please me. Ah. Then... The future I envision... Perhaps I can't beat you here and now, but I'll battle you to buy time for these members of Team Plasma to get away!" He sent out a Sandile, while I sent out Sawk.

Umbreon growled. "You disgust me!"

The battle was over before it started and his Sandile, Scraggy, Darumaka, and Siglyph had fainted. N adjusted his hat. Your pokémon are happy to fight alongside you. You're quite strong. But I have a future that I must change. And, for that future... I'll defeat the Champion and become unbeatable, unlike any other! I'll make all Trainers free their Pokémon! Just try and stop me! If you want to be together with Pokémon, your only hope is to collect the Badges from each area and head for the Pokémon League! Try and stop me there, if you dare! If your conviction is not strong enough, you will never be able to defeat me."

I stepped towards him, feeling my eyes water. "N."

His determined look became more sympathetic. "I am truly sorry it has to be this way. I rather like you, Ace. The pokémon that helped me like you as well." He took out the four pokéballs and held them out to me. "I trust that you will take care of them."

I nodded and took the pokéballs. "I will."

He turned and began walking away. "Until next time, Aceline." Once he was out of sight, I took the four pokémon to the pokémon center, and switched Sawk out for Darumaka, placing the other three in the PC as well.

I looked down at Umbreon. "I won't be able to sleep tonight. What do you say, shall we train tonight?"

He nodded. "Of course Master, though it's getting cold, you should change first." I nodded and smiled weakly, heading into a nearby shop. I bought the clothes, and was given a celebrity discount. I had been allowed to change in the dressing room and I looked at the final product when I was finished. I wore a tight, white sweater dress that came down to my mid-thigh. Under that I wore thick, red leggings and white UGGs. I chose a pair of soft red gloves, a red coat with white cuffs, a white chilote cap and white scarf.

As I exited the store, I noticed that it had gotten cold, but I had been so worked up from the concert that I hadn't noticed. "Thank for the tip Umbreon."

He nodded. "Of course, Master."

I sighed, lightly able to make out my breath on the air. "Let's go train."


End file.
